Former senator to join IT security team
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President Clinton has named Sam Nunn, the former Georgia U.S. senator, as co-chairman of the advisory team to the White House commission established to assess threats to the nation's computer infrastructure. Clinton also appointed Charles R. Lee, chief executive officer of GTE Corp. of Stamford, Conn., David N. Campbell, president of BBN Technologies of Cambridge, Mass., and Elvin Moon, president of E.W. Moon Engineering & Construction Management Industries of Los Angeles, to serve on the
President Clinton has named Sam Nunn, the former Georgia U.S. senator, as co-chairman
of the advisory team to the White House commission established to assess threats to the
nation's computer infrastructure.
Clinton also appointed Charles R. Lee, chief executive officer of GTE Corp. of
Stamford, Conn., David N. Campbell, president of BBN Technologies of Cambridge, Mass., and
Elvin Moon, president of E.W. Moon Engineering & Construction Management Industries of
Los Angeles, to serve on the team advising the President's Commission on Critical
Infrastructure Protection (PCCIP).
Clinton created the PCCIP in July 1996 to identify and analyze cyberthreats to the
nation's critical resources and systems, including the telecommunications infrastructure,
banking systems and emergency services systems. The group is working with industry and
government officials at the federal, state and local levels to evaluate diverse threats
such as hackers, insider criminals and information warfare attacks.
Tom Marsh--a retired Air Force general and chairman of the board of CAE Electronics
Inc. in Arlington, Va., and Comverse Government Systems Corp. in Woodbury, N.Y.--heads the
PCCI. The commission's full-time federal members include representatives from the
departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Justice, Transportation and Treasury, along with
the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
As the advisory committee co-chairman, Nunn joins Jamie Gorelick, former deputy
attorney general, in leading the commission's private sector consulting team.
Some industry groups, such as the Computer and Communications Industry Association,
have questioned whether the White House is using the commission to push its controversial
key escrow encryption plan. But PCCIP officials said they will not prescribe any mandatory
security policies or technical solutions.
Since his January appointment, Marsh has said in public speeches that the commission's
primary challenge is to create a partnership with the private sector, heeding the
technical advise from industry experts. Nunn and Gorelick are expected to represent
industry's concerns about reinforcing privacy policies and limiting efforts to establish
new federal security regulations on encryption products.
The commission's final product will be a set of policy, legislation and program
recommendations for bolstering security in all essential infrastructure systems. The group
has set up its own World Wide Web site at http://www.pccip.gov/pccip.
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