In a live web address Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said cybersecurity is a shared responsibility among consumers, the private sector and government, but a cabinet-level position dedicated to technology and cybersecurity is not needed.
During her speech, Napolitano reiterated statements made by President Obama in May, that the nation's digital networks are a strategic asset and that "cyberspace is real and so are the risks that come with it."
Addressing and mitigating cyberthreats is an urgent national security priority, she said. But cybersecurity is not the responsibility of one person or group since no one person is in charge of the internet. Cybersecurity, rather, is a responsibility that everyone must take on.
"Just as with our nation's preparedness for natural disasters or terrorist attacks, our nation's cybersecurity is a shared responsibility," Napolitano said.
During a short question-and-answer session during her web address, Napolitano was asked whether she thinks technology and cybersecurity should have a place in the president's cabinet.
From GovInfoSecurity, on the Secretary's remarks regarding the department's new hiring authority:
Sounding a lot like Uncle Sam recruiting soldiers for the Army, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in a webcast Tuesday pitched a career as a cyber professional at DHS, with the call "your nation needs you."
Napolitano, the highest ranking and most visible champion of cybersecurity in the Obama administration, reminded her web audience that DHS has been given expedited hiring authority to bring aboard 1,000 skilled IT security experts over the next three years. "And here is our message to those professionals and future-professionals: Not only does DHS want you, your nation needs you. We need our best and brightest, our finest computer scientists and engineers, mathematicians and innovative thinkers."
From the Corpus Christi Caller Times, on Texas-size pot bust:
More than 11,700 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of more than $9.3 million was seized by border patrol in eight unrelated cases.
The most significant was Saturday morning at the checkpoint south of Falfurrias, where agents discovered 366 bundles of marijuana weighing 8,451 pounds hidden inside a vacuum tanker.Thursday, agents found 117 bundles, with a total weight of 2,972 pounds, inside moving boxes in a tractor-trailer.
Leadership Events
9:30 AM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will testify about monitoring the nation’s response to H1N1 before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
342 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C.
4 PM EDT
Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks about her broad agenda and major responsibilities for DHS
The George Washington University Law School
Room LL101
2000 H Street NW
Washington, D.C.
Public Events
8 AM EDT
U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen will deliver remarks about the importance of social media for effective governance at the Military Communications Conference 2009
Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center
1 Seaport Lane
Boston Mass.
11 AM Local
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger will deliver keynote remarks at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Conference
RUSI
Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
12:45 PM EDT
NPPD Under Secretary Rand Beers will deliver the keynote address at the Homeland Security Investor Conference
Ritz-Carlton Hotel
1150 22nd Street NW
Washington, D.C.