Table 1. Executive Branch Orders and Memoranda Relating to Cyber Security
Clinton Administration 
4 Apr. 1996 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments an Establishments
  • Implementation guidelines for Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (10 Feb. 1996). Indicates responsibilities and organizational position of Chief Information Officer (replacing previous "designated senior official for information resources management") in all federal government agencies. Changes effective August 1996. 
  • (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/nrp/library/omb/2752.html)
15 July 1996 Executive Order 13010
  • Established President’s Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection (PCCIP) with members from several key executive branch agencies and departments. Responsible for consulting with all relevant sectors, proposing a national strategy for critical infrastructure protection, and recommending any legal or regulatory changes necessary. 
  • Also created interim Infrastructure Protection Task Force within Department of Justice, with members from FBI (chair), Defense Department, and National Security Agency.
1998 Presidential Decision Directive-63
  • Creates position of National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counter-Terrorism in the National Security Council.
  • Designates "lead agencies for sector liaison" with private sector.
  • Sets up National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) at FBI with participation from other agencies, responsible for "providing timely warnings of intentional threats, comprehensive analyses and law enforcement investigation and response." 
  • Sets up National Infrastructure Assurance Council (NIAC) within Department of Commerce, with members from "major infrastructure providers and state and local government officials" to improve public-private sector collaboration in infrastructure protection.
  • Mandates every agency within 180 days to "develop a plan for protecting its own critical infrastructure," with plans to be implemented within two years of the directive
  • (http://www.cybercrime.gov/white_pr.htm; see also http://www.nipc.gov, http://www.ciao.gov )
17 Dec. 1999 Presidential Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies
  • Makes Director of OMB responsible for overseeing federal agencies’ "development of responsible strategies to make transactions available online." 
  • Requires several agencies and departments to "make a broad range of benefits and services available through private and secure electronic use of the Internet." 
  • Sets target of issuance of 100 thousand digital signature certificates throughout the government by the end of 2000.
  • Directs all agency heads to "develop a strategy for upgrading … [agencies’ capacities] for using the Internet to become more open, efficient, and responsive, and to more effectively carry out the agency’s mission." 
  • (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/nrp/library/direct/memos/elecgovrnmnt.html)

 
 

Bush Administration
8 October 2001 Executive Order 
  • Establishes Office of Homeland Security
9 Oct. 2001 Announcement 
  • President’s Special Advisor for Cyberspace Security appointed. 
  • Advisor will be responsible for "coordinat[ing] interagency efforts to secure information systems" as well as for working with the part of the private sector that "owns and operates the vast majority" of the country’s "critical infrastructure." 
  • Advisor will also chair a soon-to-be-established "government-wide board that will coordinate the protection of critical information systems." 
  • (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011009.html)
16 Oct. 2001 Executive Order on Critical Infrastructure Protection
  • Establishes President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, chaired by Cyberspace Security Advisor; some of Board’s specific responsibilities to be determined by the Presidential Assistant for Homeland Security together with National Security Advisor.
  • Establishes several standing committees within the CIPB.
  • Continues roles of NIPC and NIAC (reconstituted as National Infrastructure Advisory Council).
  • (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011016-12.html)

 
 
Table 2. House and Senate Hearings Related to Cyber Security
Before Sept. 11
9 March 2000 Computer Security: Are We Prepared for Cyberwar? House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
29 March 2000 Enhancing Computer Security: What Tools Work Best? House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
22 May 2000 Government Online: Strategies and Challenges House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology 
22 June 2000 H.R. 4246, the Cyber Security Information Act of 2000: An Examination of Issues Involving Public-Private Partnerships for Critical Infrastructures House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
26 July 2000 Computer Security: Cyber Attacks - A War without Borders House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
11 Sept. 2000 Computer Security: How Vulnerable Are Federal Computers? House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
12 Sept. 2000 Establishing a Federal CIO: Information Technology Management and Assurance within the Federal Government House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology
3 April 2001 Hearing on the Hart-Rudman Report (United States Commission on National Security/21st Century) Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information
5 April 2001 [Computer Security in Federal Systems] House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
3 Aug. 2001 How Secure is Sensitive Commerce Department Data and Operations? A Review of the Department’s Computer Security Policies and Practices House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
29 August 2001 What Can be Done to Reduce the Threats Posed by Computer Viruses and Worms to the Workings of Government House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Relations
After Sept. 11
26 Sept. 2001 Information Technology – Essential Yet Vulnerable: How Prepared Are We for Attacks? House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Relations
4 Oct. 2001 Critical Infrastructure Protection: Who’s in Charge? Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
10 Oct. 2001 Cyber Security: How Can We Protect American Computer Networks from Attack? House Science Committee
10 Oct. 2001 Terrorism: Are America’s Water Resources and Environment at Risk? House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
12 Oct. 2001 Responding to Homeland Threats Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
17 Oct. 2001 Hearing on Cyber Terrorism House Science Committee
7 Nov. 2001 Hearing on Threats to Domestic Security House Budget Committee
9 Nov. 2001 Computer Security in the Federal Government: How Do the Agencies Rate? House Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations
14 Nov. 2001 Biometric Identifiers and the Modern Face of Terror: New Technologies in the Global War on Terrorism Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism and Government Information
15 Nov. 2001 Private Sector and Cyber Security House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection