Chertoff Says Cyber Threat Increasing

Dec. 18, 2008— -- Following a two-day wargame exercise on cyber-security issues, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff today said that no one person should be in charge of cyber-security, despite the growing and emerging future threats.

"As we look at this threat, [it] is clearly only intensifying over time," Chertoff said. "A system where one agency sits over everything, military and civilian, is not usually one that has been regarded favorably by the American public."

Chertoff urged that the existing cyber-security strategy developed and shared by the Pentagon, Homeland Security and the FBI be continued by the incoming Obama administration. "I'm sure this is going to be a major area of focus of the new administration," he told the Cyber Strategic Inquiry 2008 Conference in Washington, D.C., which was organized by the government consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and Business Executives for National Security. "And we obviously want to work with them to help them get the benefit of what we've done and whatever advice they seek from us."

Chertoff, who's expected to be replaced by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, noted that President George W. Bush pushed for a major agency review of cyber-security threats and is often briefed on the issue. Bush signed a presidential directive last year that charged Homeland Security and the National Security Agency with establishing a computer-security strategy initiative.

"The way we have set up the architecture of our current system, with DOD [the Department of Defense] maintaining its distinct responsibilities, the intelligence maintaining its responsibilities, and DHS [Homeland Security] and DOJ [Department of Justice] doing its piece in the civilian space, I think that works well," he said. "I think it preserves existing authorities, which have been separated ... to protect our civil liberties."

Recent cases and incidents show the multi-faceted world of cyber-security problems. The U.S. Secret Service announced earlier this year that as many as 40 million credit and debit card numbers had been stolen by a criminal network that gathered the numbers at major U.S. retail stores when the group installed "sniffer" programs into the stores' computers. The Justice Department charged 11 people from around the world.