Public-private partnerships key to protecting infrastructure, lawmakers say

Public-private partnerships and inter-agency coordination are central to protecting the nation's transportation, communications, finance, banking and utility systems from electronic threats, lawmakers said Thursday before a Senate Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.

These industries "are growing increasingly complex with a growing reliance on computers," said Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., who acted as chairman of the committee in the absence of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn. The term "critical infrastructure covers just about everything of value in our country."

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York have renewed lawmakers' interests in critical infrastructure. "We're now looking at these threats through different glasses," said Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

Destruction or incapacitation of the computer systems that operate the components of the infrastructure could debilitate national and economic security, said Frank Cilluffo, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

"Bits, bytes, bugs and gas will never replace bullets and bombs as the terrorist weapon of choice," Cilluffo said. But, "while [Osama] bin Laden may have his finger on the trigger, his grandson may have his finger on the mouse."

Presidential Decision Directive 63, released by the Clinton administration in May 1998, outlined the federal government's responsibilities to protect the nation's critical infrastructure. The National Infrastructure Protection Center and the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office were created under that directive to coordinate such efforts, but both offices have suffered from lack of trust and resources, their executives testified.

Richard Clarke, now with the National Security Council, is reported to be moving to the new Office of Homeland Security as the head of the Bush administration's efforts to coordinate defenses against cyberthreats and to protect the nation's critical infrastructure.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said the administration's current efforts to protect the nation's key industries aren't enough. "This is a poorly coordinated program across the breadth of the federal government," she said. Jamie Gorelick, vice chairman of Fannie Mae, agreed that there is "no relation between the job and the resources." The government offices working on this effort are dwarfed by the size of the problem, she said.

Public-private partnerships are critical to protecting the computers that control the nation's critical infrastructure, because 90 percent of the infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, Thompson said. An example of one successful partnership is the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, which brings together CEOs from the most important telecommunications providers to ensure the nation's phone and data systems remain in operation during crises.

Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said cooperation among agencies is key. "I think homeland security and critical infrastructure protection comes down to two words: interagency coordination," he said.