WASHINGTON-White House cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke said today industry unity could help win funding for wireless priority access service implementation and that security remains a big problem with wireless local area networks.
“It would make it easier…to make the necessary decisions about budgeting for wireless priority services if it is crystal clear to us and the administration, and crystal clear to everyone in Congress, that the wireless industry is 100 percent behind the notion of wireless priority,” said Clarke at a conference sponsored by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.
The statement appeared to be a veiled reference to a decision by Verizon Wireless, the nation’s top mobile phone carrier and a CDMA proponent, to back out of a government contract to provide wireless priority access service last year, and the National Communications System’s subsequent move to embrace GSM technology for nationwide rollout of WPAS.
Congress failed to appropriate any of the $73 million requested by President Bush for WPAS in fiscal 2003. Unless funding gets tucked into a Senate bill in the final days of the lame-duck session of Congress, NCS and industry will have to wait until next year for spending action on WPAS.
“This problem has dropped between the cracks. We want to take it nationwide,” said Clarke
Clarke’s remarks came as Congress inched closer to passage of legislation to create a new Department of Homeland Security.
Clarke challenged the wireless industry to integrate robust security into operator networks, saying the feature could be a competitive selling point for carriers. He also urged the U.S. firms to embrace the latest Internet Protocol, which Japan and Europe are integrating into high-tech networks to improve embraced security. Clarke said IP v.6 could prove key to successful deployment of third-generation wireless systems.
At the same time, Clarke said the biggest security vulnerability in industry lies with WLANs. WLAN security vulnerability was highlighted in a White House draft report on cyber security in September. A final report will be issued after government officials review public comments. Reply comments are due Nov. 18.
Clarke, responding to criticism that the administration’s cybersecurity plan relies too heavily on industry volunteerism, said a federal mandate would only agitate companies and likely hurt security because government-imposed fixes would become swiftly outdated. He said the government is not qualified to mandate cybersecurity rules, while industry has a better grip on the issue.
On other matters, Clarke said the Justice Department has given assurances that no antitrust issue arises from industry-sector work on cybersecurity solutions. He also said cybersecurity information shared by companies with government likely would be protected from public disclosure under the homeland security bill.
