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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has launched a cybersecurity center, but not all cybersecurity experts welcome its assignment to the enormous agency, from its former home in the White House.

The 60-person division, called the National Cyber Security Division, will report to Robert Liscouski, assistant secretary of homeland security for infrastructure protection. It is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate. DHS is actively seeking someone to head the new division, who will have similar responsibilities to the former position of cybersecurity czar at the White House, according to a DHS spokesperson.

The division director "would be the person whose sole focus in terms of infrastructure protection is cyber," says David Wray, a DHS spokesperson. "We've been quietly looking for the right kind of candidate, and now we're actively looking."

Paying Enough Attention?

The new division is already operating and will focus on reducing vulnerabilities in the government's computing networks. It will also work with the private sector to help protect other critical pieces of cyberspace, DHS has announced.

While some in the technology community cheer the move, others question the division's position within DHS. The new cybersecurity division will not report directly to DHS Secretary Tom Ridge. But until April, the White House had a cybersecurity czar, notes William Harrod, director of investigative response for TruSecure, a security software vendor.

"I think it downgrades the visibility of the position within the administration," Harrod says of the new DHS division. "For organizations that want to follow someone who's carrying the banner of cybersecurity, it's a lower profile position."

With cybersecurity getting a lower profile in the Bush administration, the country may be putting less emphasis on pursuing cybercriminals, Harrod says.

"It's sending the message to big business that this isn't a high priority," he says. "They're not going to have ability to generate the sway or have the leadership or commitment ... as they had with a cyberspace czar who reported directly to Bush."

Also, when Richard Clarke retired from the White House cybersecurity post, he urged greater and prompt emphasis on online safety as part of the antiterrorism efforts.

Other Assessments

Wray, from DHS, says it doesn't make sense to put the cybersecurity division anywhere else. While the White House was still preparing its National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, it made sense to have a cybersecurity czar there to champion the cause, Wray says. The White House released the report in February, and now a division should carry out policies.

"Now we've got a great strategy," Wray adds. "This is a natural evolution for going from strategic thinking to execution."

Others in the technology community agree with DHS. Alan Paller, research director at the information security researcher SANS Institute, says the new division will have the clout to go after cybercrime. Former White House cybersecurity czar Clarke had few resources to do anything but "jawbone."

If DHS wanted to downplay cybersecurity, it would bury the division under its physical terrorism division, Paller says. He believes this move makes cybersecurity an equal player.

"I don't think this move says the Bush administration is soft-peddling cybercrime," Paller adds. "This act today in no way confirms that. It looks to be moving in the other direction."

Robert Holleyman, president and chief executive officer of the Business Software Alliance, also cheers the announcement. Improving cyberspace security will require a long-term, aggressive public-private partnership, he says in a statement.

"We all have a responsibility to make this work," Holleyman adds. "Meeting the information security challenge is not just the job of the government, it is everyone's job. Industry and government can set the example by making sure that this issue is addressed at the top level of every organization."

Assigned Tasks

According to a DHS statement, the new division's goals are to:

* Identify risks and help reduce the vulnerabilities to government's cyber assets and coordinate with the private sector to identify and help protect U.S. critical cyber assets;

* Oversee a consolidated Cyber Security Tracking, Analysis, & Response Center that will detect and respond to Internet events, track potential threats and vulnerabilities to cyberspace, and coordinate cybersecurity and incident response with federal, state, local, private sector and international partners;

* Create, in coordination with other appropriate agencies, cybersecurity awareness and education programs and partnerships with consumers, businesses, governments, academia, and international communities.

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