6.2 President s Executive Order on Critical Infrastructure Protection

6.2 President's Executive Order on Critical Infrastructure Protection

Following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001, there was a growing realization in our government and across industry sectors that our national infrastructure was vulnerable and that we had become (almost completely) dependent on such critical elements that they needed specific protection. On October 16, 2001, President Bush issued an Executive Order [3] to ensure protection of information systems for critical infrastructure, including emergency preparedness communications, and the physical assets that support such systems.

The President's Executive Order established policy that reflects the fact that the information technology revolution has changed the way business is transacted, government operates, and national defense is conducted . Those three functions now depend (almost wholly ) on an interdependent network of critical information infrastructures . The protection program authorized by this Executive Order requires continuous efforts to secure information systems for critical infrastructure. Protection of these systems is essential to the telecommunications, energy, financial services, manufacturing, water, transportation, health care, and emergency services sectors. The official statement of policy, excerpted from the Executive Order, follows :

It is the policy of the United States to protect against disruption of the operation of information systems for critical infrastructure and thereby help to protect the people, economy, essential human and government services, and national security of the United States, and to ensure that any disruptions that occur are infrequent, of minimal duration, and manageable, and cause the least damage possible. The implementation of this policy shall include a voluntary public-private partnership, involving corporate and non- governmental organizations.

Ten days after this Executive Order was issued, the 107th U.S. Congress passed H.R. 3162, which became Public Law 107-56, the USA Patriot Act of 2001. [4]