Napolitano Calls Public Safety Interoperability and Cybersecurity Critical
Public safety network interoperability is “an issue that we just have to solve, and we have to solve it quickly,” said Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano. She spoke Thursday at the 2009 meeting of the president’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Meanwhile, NSTAC approved reports on cybersecurity and identity management, and received an update on an upcoming report on satellites.
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Napolitano said she learned over the course of her political career that achieving interoperability isn’t “a snap of the finger.” But that doesn’t make it any less urgent, and it’s likely much easier to solve “than it’s made out to be,” she said.
Cybersecurity is another critical issue that DHS has “been thinking a lot about,” Napolitano said. She said it’s “one of the deep and emerging areas where we need to make more robust our systems, our protections and our private- public collaborations.” The department has been “actively engaged” in President Barack Obama’s 60-day review of cybersecurity, she said.
The FCC sees achieving interoperability “as one of our key goals,” and is committed to establishing a nationwide network in the 700 MHz band, said David Furth, acting Public Safety Bureau chief. The commission is doing a staff-level review, and is talking to DHS and the NTIA to ensure FCC interoperability rules harmonize with their programs, he said. Meanwhile, the commission will take up public safety issues and cybersecurity in its national broadband plan, which is due to Congress next February, Furth said. Much more work is needed on cybersecurity, he said, saying the FCC has established a council to work on the subject.
The NSTAC’s cybersecurity report concludes that “an adequate operational capability to respond to the current growing cyber threat does not exist,” said Juniper Networks CEO Kevin Johnson. Future attacks on the U.S. could be “severe or catastrophic,” he said. The report recommended that the president direct the creation of a “joint, integrated public-private 24/7 operational cyber incident detection, prevention, mitigation and response capability to address cyber events and incidents of national consequence,” he said.
The report on identity management issues urged the president to charter a national identity management office under the executive office, said Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski. It urges Obama to use his bully pulpit to “positively influence the national culture, attitudes and opinions toward identity management,” said Zafirovski.
NSTAC’s satellite task force plans to have a draft report on the industry ready by August, said Kay Sears, president of Intelsat General. The study is “timely,” because of significant consolidation and maturation of the satellite industry, she said. The report will tackle capacity availability issues resulting from cyberattacks, as well as interference and the migration of systems from bent- pipe design to IP-based networks, Sears said.