http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21843-2003Mar13.html By Brian Krebs washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Thursday, March 13, 2003; 4:42 PM The Bush administration today said it will appoint a senior Coca-Cola Corp. executive and a former CIA official to top leadership positions in charge of cybersecurity and intelligence gathering at the new Department of Homeland Security. The White House said it will name Robert Liscouski, director of information assurance for Coca-Cola Corp., as assistant secretary of infrastructure protection. He would be responsible for programs that protect the nation's vital physical and digital assets from attack. Liscouski currently is a member of the Intelligence Science Board, a CIA advisory panel. The administration also named Paul Redmond, the former chief of CIA counterintelligence, to serve as assistant secretary for information analysis. Redmond, whose work led to the uncovering of CIA spy Aldrich Ames, is preparing a report to the CIA on the damage done to U.S. intelligence efforts by Robert Hanssen, the FBI counterintelligence expert convicted of spying for Russia. Observers applauded Liscouski's selection as assistant secretary, saying his experience on information assurance issues indicates that the White House plans to keep a spotlight on cybersecurity. "Liscouski has a good reputation within industry for caring about these issues, and part and parcel of his responsibility at Coke would have been to manage a very active cybersecurity program," said Mario Correa, director of Internet and network security policy at the Business Software Alliance. Neither Liscouski nor Redmond could be immediately reached for comment. The White house still has not settled on a nominee to lead the Homeland Security division where Liscouski and Redmond will serve, known as the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate (IAIP). Administration officials said, however, that they are in the final stages of vetting Frank Libutti -- deputy commissioner of counterterrorism for the New York City Policy Department -- as undersecretary for IAIP. The retired Marine lieutenant general was instrumental in helping set up the new department, serving as the administration's special assistant for homeland security until January 2002. The administration sources also said Howard Schmidt -- a former Microsoft security chief and the current White House cybersecurity adviser -- is negotiating a move to become cybersecurity adviser for the Homeland Security Department, reporting to department Secretary Tom Ridge. Schmidt was not immediately available for comment. Many observers had feared that cybersecurity matters would be overlooked as a subset of the infrastructure protection post. Their fears were compounded last month when cybersecurity adviser Richard Clarke resigned from his post and the administration issued an executive order abolishing the cybersecurity board that Clarke chaired, transferring its duties to the Homeland Security department. Department officials declined to comment. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Mar 14 2003 - 02:28:33 PST