New Cyberczar Has Much Rebuilding to Do, Expert Says

Even though a new DHS assistant secretary for cybersecurity is still in the approval stages, one political correspondent thinks it's almost a done deal, and has offered up his advice for the yet-to-be-named incoming cyberczar.

In an opinion piece on CNET News.com, Declan McCullagh, the website's Washington correspondent, gives his advice in a mock letter. As reported in Continuity e-Guide last month, the House of Representatives approved the creation of an assistant secretary for cybersecurity, which is currently waiting Senate approval.

McCullagh's letter, dated September 1, 2005, reminds the new assistant secretary that his or her first task should be to solve the departments own problems. "I'm sure you remember that report from May 26, which concluded that Homeland Security had fulfilled precisely zero of its 13 key cybersecurity responsibilities--a damning indictment of an agency that's supposed to be the brains of the federal government in this area," McCullagh writes. However, he warns that the task of fixing past mistakes won't be easy.

He also recommends the new cyberczar improve the agency's relationship with the private sector, including the technologists, network administrators and executives who are "busy expanding the Internet and finding better ways not to secure it."

In a scathing evaluation of former cyberczar Richard Clarke's on-the-job performance, McCullagh says the new appointee should consider Clarke as a poor example of the position. "Clarke made a habit of showing up at security conferences and lecturing the attendees on topics that they usually knew more about than he did," he writes.

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