http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4474942.html By DAN CATERINICCHIA AP Business Writer 2007 The Associated Press Jan. 16, 2007 WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Tuesday asked business leaders to assess the potential conflict between national security demands and employee privacy laws regarding risks to the nation's critical infrastructure, such as water, energy and other utilities. "It's something businesses must reflect upon and strike the right balance between security with respect to their work force and the privacy workers expect," Chertoff told The Associated Press following remarks to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council. The council is a group of private sector executives and state and local government leaders who meet four times a year to advise the White House on keeping crucial facilities secure. The private sector controls about 85 percent of the nation's water, energy, transportation and other critical infrastructure. Chertoff said the council should explore the insider threat to critical infrastructure systems to identify "sleepers who could be the source of the threats." Internal threats are a risk at all 17 critical infrastructure sectors and represented the next logical step for the council to explore following threat assessments at the entrances and perimeters of facilities, says Robert Stephan, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Infrastructure Protection. In addition to water, energy and transportation, the 14 other critical infrastructure sectors are: communications, chemical and hazardous materials, commercial facilities, dams, defense industrial base, emergency services, financial services, food and agriculture, government facilities, information technology, national monuments and icons, nuclear power plants, postal and shipping, and public health and health care. Erle A. Nye, chairman emeritus of Texas' biggest electricity producer TXU Corp., leads the council, whose members include executives from Intel Corp., Akamai Technologies Inc., IBM Corp., ConAgra Foods Inc., Symantec Corp. and others. The council will establish a subcommittee to explore the insider threat issue and that group is expected to present status reports in April and July, with formal recommendations possible by October, said Bill Muston of TXU who supports Nye in his duties as council chair. Representatives from the National Employment Lawyers Association intend to monitor the council's progress and said that since many employee privacy laws are established at the state level, it would take a new federal law to override them. Kathleen Bogas, president of NELA's executive board and a private attorney in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., questioned how the council would explore the insider threat. "This could be a huge issue," Bogas said, since any approach that focused on physical appearance or national origin of employees could present legal problems. _____________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn
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