Melissa Hathaway at RSA 2009

by Dana Tierney, Senior Assistant Editor

This afternoon Melissa Hathaway, acting senior director for cyberspace of the National Security Council (NSC) and the Homeland Security Council (HSC), summarized the conclusions of the Obama Administration's cyberspace policy review at the RSA Conference 2009, a major event for the information security industry in San Francisco.

The presentation, which kicked off to a Mission Impossible theme, declared that the US computer security infrastructure was "neither secure enough nor resilient enough for what we use it for."

This is a situation that allows thefts by state and non-state actors to steal valuable information, said Hathaway. She cited a recent heist in which thieves stole $9 million in one 30-minute period from ATM machines all around the world. Other risks include not being able to depend on resources being available when they are needed most.

Completed April 17, the review of federal cybersecurity initiatives concluded that due to overlapping authorities and other issues, the federal government is not organized properly to address the existing problems. No single agency has a broad enough perspective.

But it is a fundamental responsibility of the US government to address strategic vulnerabilities, Hathaway said, and to help to realize the full potential of information technology. She outlined an initiative in which the White House would lead an alliance of federal, state, local and tribal governments and of other countries worldwide and added that public and private sectors share responsibility for infrastructure reliability.

"Protecting cyberspace requires strong vision and leadership and will require changes in policy, technology, education, and perhaps law," Hathaway said. "We need to demonstrate abroad and here at home that the United States takes cyberspace issues, policies, and activities seriously." But cybersecurity can succeed in a context of broader economic progress, she said, and when pursued properly, enables progress and investment, leaving innovation unthreatened.

Echoing a theme of the conference, she called for collaboration and said that public and private sector's interests are intertwined, and that "we can optimize our collective research and development dollars." Cybersecurity represents a top priority for the Obama administration, she said.

"We need an agreed way forward," she said. Scores of legal issues arose during her review for the President, which generated a list of 250 recommendations.

"Are we ready to talk openly about the challenges we face?" she asked. "If not us, then who? If not now, then when?"

In a reprise of the Mission Impossible theme, she closed by saying

"This speech will now self-destruct, but don't worry – this is the internet age. There are already hundreds of copies out on the internet and you can download them online."

Dana Tierney is the Sr. Assistant Editor at House of Fusion, where she causes authors to cry over their once-thought perfect articles. They recover, and their articles are better for it. But still, the sound of grown men weeping...

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