The Clinton administration's long-awaited national cyberterrorism protection plan is expected to be unveiled at the end of the month, and likely will be mentioned in the president's upcoming State of the Union address.
The framework has been delayed since last spring as inter-agency turf battles slowed its completion and then concerns about civil libertarian rights bogged down its final release.
"It is long overdue . . . At this point it is an issue of just getting people to sign on," said Frank Cilluffo, who heads a counterterrorism task force at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
It is expected to be a first draft aimed at assuring the security of the telecommunications, banking and finance, energy, transportation, and essential government services, that was initiated at the directive of President Clinton. The plan is expected to undergo updates and changes as computer technology evolves.
Agencies within the National Security Council and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are the plan's main drivers, which is to be implemented throughout government agencies. It is divided into several parts, including the creation of Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) for the public and private sectors to swap critical infrastructure information, a recruiting and training computer security program and the Federal Intrusion Detection Network (FIDNet) for monitoring the security of government computer networks.
Clinton sought $1.46 billion in last year's budget to combat cyberterrorism. In a supplemental request for Clinton's 2000 budget, the White House asked Congress to fund $39.4 million for FIDNet, ISACs, computer security projects and a cyber training and recruiting program. Congress has not enacted the funding.
During a luncheon speech at the National Press Club Thursday, Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser, said cyberterrorism is among the strategic emerging threats facing the United States in the new century.
One cyberterrorism expert observed that the White House likely would ask for approximately the same funding once the measure has been formally unveiled. Clinton is scheduled to send his 2001 budget in early February.
FIDNet was the most controversial portion of the plan, as members of Congress and civil libertarians slammed an early draft suggesting that it would be used to monitor private e-mail and networks. House Republicans have blocked the administration's funding efforts for cyberterrorism in part over concerns about its privacy implications.
"What the administration did wrong was they didn't bring enough people, like the civil liberty community, into the dialogue as the plan was developed," Cilluffo said.
At least one private sector computer security expert was skeptical that the current plan would be effective. Ira Winkler, who heads Internet Security Advisors Group, said that there has not been enough emphasis on prevention of security leaks within the private sector, and money spent on information sharing and network security recruitment won't curb hacks into private computer systems.
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