Administration faulted for lack of IT security leadership

Two former government IT security officials today criticized the administration before a House panel for a lack of leadership in IT security. “There is at this moment a serious void in the executive branch leadership,” following the dissolution of the President’s Critical Infrastructure Board, said Michael A. Vatis, former head of the National Infrastructure Protection Center. The new Homeland Security Department is expected to assume the board’s responsibilities, but “that void is likely to continue at the leadership level for several months.” Richard Clarke, former chairman of the Critical Infrastructure Board, said the new department should be the focus for information security. “Unfortunately, the department in the early days has not organized itself to take that responsibility,” he said. Clarke also criticized the lack of a governmentwide chief information security officer with a full-time White House staff. The comments were made in testimony before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census. Full Story