DHS Official: Napolitano Departure Won't Delay Cybersecurity EO or PPDTasks

(La Jolla, CA)  A top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official involved in a number of initiatives flowing from President Obama's February 12 cybersecurity executive order (EO) and Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) said today that the impending departure of DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano shouldn't delay any of the time-sensitive and crucial tasks assigned to DHS under the EO and PPD.  

At a workshop hosted here at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD),  Robert Kolasky, Director of the DHS Integrated Task Force, said in an interview that (acting) DHS Deputy Secretary Rand Beers "is well familiar with the work involved.  I don't anticipate any delays."  The workshop, run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, was a key event in the development of a voluntary critical infrastructure cybersecurity framework. Napolitano is leaving DHS in September to run the University of California system (UCSD is part of that system although the NIST workshop and Napolitano's new role are unrelated).

As the table below highlights, not only has DHS been assigned a central coordinating role in both the the EO and PPD, it also has a number of fast-track tasks that must be completed prior to Napolitano's departure.  DHS officials say that the agency has fulfilled its obligations on all of the tasks in that it has submitted to either the President or the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) required reports and materials by the specified deadlines that have occurred to date.  None of the reports listed in the table below have been made public yet, although Kolasky said that at least one of the reports, recommendations on the incentives critical asset owners need to participate in the new wide-ranging security efforts, will be made public by the end of July.

Posted in: Critical Infrastructure,Cyber Security,cyber warfare,Cybersecurity Executive Order,DHS,NIST