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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">--US State Department Creates Cyber Security
Position<BR><BR>The US Department of State has created the Office of the
Coordinator for Cyber Issues, a post that will have the authority to coordinate
agency<BR>cyber security. The coordinator will report directly to
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The coordinator will also be
responsible for the<BR>security of communications between the US and other
governments. The position has been in the works since before WikiLeaks'
release of tens<BR>of thousands of diplomatic cables.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><A title=http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153108.pdf
href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153108.pdf">http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153108.pdf</A>
(see page 14, 38, 43, 72).</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">State Department Announces Cybersecurity Post
</FONT></DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"><STRONG>The position, planned before
the recent WikiLeaks exposure, will report directly to Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and work to prevent data breaches involving confidential
diplomatic information. </STRONG><BR><BR></FONT>
<DIV class=article-byline><FONT face="Times New Roman">By </FONT><A
href="http://www.informationweek.com/authors/showAuthor.jhtml;jsessionid=EEATXXE3BCIFJQE1GHPSKHWATMY32JVN?authorID=1225"><STRONG><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Elizabeth Montalbano</FONT></STRONG></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> , </FONT><A
href="http://www.informationweek.com/;jsessionid=EEATXXE3BCIFJQE1GHPSKHWATMY32JVN"
target=_blank><FONT face="Times New Roman">InformationWeek </FONT></A><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman">December 22, 2010 02:24 PM </FONT></DIV><SPAN
id=articleBody>
<DIV class=IntelliTXT>
<P class=firstP></P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The U.S. State Department has
created a new post aimed at coordinating agency cyber and cybersecurity efforts,
including those that will protect confidential communication between the U.S.
and other governments. </FONT>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The department unveiled the new post in the
First Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, </FONT><A
href="http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153108.pdf"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">released</FONT></A><FONT face="Times New Roman"> this
week. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The creation of the Office of the Coordinator
for Cyber Issues was planned before the controversial publishing of 250,000
confidential U.S. diplomatic cables several weeks ago on the WikiLeaks website,
officials said. Ostensibly, the new coordinator will help prevent such breaches
and the international furor they cause in the future. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Indeed, cybersecurity in general has been a key
focus for the Obama administration, and federal agencies are working across the
board to develop better policies and technology to protect government networks.
After WikiLeaks and then a host of international news agencies published the
cables -- an event that's become known as Cablegate -- preventing data breaches
caused by trusted government insiders has taken on new significance. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The new cyber coordinator is tasked with uniting
disparate elements of the state department working on cyber issues to "more
effectively advance U.S. cybersecurity and other cyber interests," according to
the report. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The coordinator also will steer all of the
department's global diplomatic engagement on cyber and cybersecurity issues. The
as-yet-to-be named official also will act as the department's primary liaison to
the president's cybersecurity coordinator and to other federal agencies as they
move ahead with cybersecurity efforts. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">State Department bureaus now must name
representatives to work directly with the new cyber coordinator, which will
reside in the office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and report directly
to her. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">A new cyber advisory council, chaired by deputy
secretary of state James B. Steinberg, will be in charge of guiding the work of
the cyber coordinator. Other permanent members of the cyber advisory council are
the under secretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment; the under
secretary for arms control and international security; and the under secretary
for management.</FONT></P></DIV></SPAN></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>