The biggest player is the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md., which since the early days of the Cold War has been engaged in collecting and analyzing signals intelligence.

The NSA appears to have lead responsibility for securing all intelligence networks, and it shares expertise with the Defense Information Systems Agency that oversees military networks.

U.S. Strategic Command is the lead combatant command responsible for information operations and cybersecurity. In addition, each of the military departments of the Department of Defense -- the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force -- has a dedicated command for managing information networks and assuring their security.

Although it receives much less money for network operations and security than the Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is the lead federal agency for coordinating national cyberdefense initiatives.

The Department of Homeland Security maintains a National Cyberspace Response System that includes the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. This is the best-known domestic responder to cyber incidents.

A National Cyber Security Center was recently established within the Department of Homeland Security to oversee the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative begun by the Bush administration in early 2008. That initiative, which extends over many years and entails dozens of different projects, is supposed to integrate the security efforts of both defense and civil agencies in addressing all of the U.S. government's cyber vulnerabilities.

However, as this brief description of U.S. organization for cyberdefense demonstrates, the structure of the U.S. government does not lend itself to timely and consistent implementation of network-security measures. The threat is evolving too fast and on too many fronts.

No single agency can address the entire cyber challenge, because it crosses all organizational and operational boundaries. Various departments or agencies of the federal government may wish to lead the cybersecurity effort, but they all lack the authority to direct actions by organizations outside their budget or chain of command.

Only the White House has the power to lead such a multifaceted undertaking, and the National Security Council is the logical mechanism within the White House to take on that task. Without White House leadership, bipartisan support and public awareness, it is unlikely that the United States can defeat the danger to its vital information networks.

(Part 8: The eight cybersecurity problems President Barack Obama will have to solve)

(Loren B. Thompson is chief executive officer of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank that supports democracy and the free market.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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