One of the most senior figures in the United States’ computer security efforts has resigned over the role given to a rival department. Rod Beckstrom, whose resignation takes effect on Friday, said the National Security Agency has too much sway while his own department was underfunded.

Beckstrom had been director of the National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), set up within the Department of Homeland Security last March. In his resignation letter to Homeland Security director Janet Napolitano he complained that the National Security Agency (NSA), part of the Department of Defense, effectively controlled his organization’s work.

There have even be proposals to move some NCSC operations to an NSA facility. According to Beckstrom, it’s dangerous for democracy to have so much security-related power in the hands of a single organization.

Ironically there has been some opposition to the NCSC’s own effects on democracy thanks to a veil of secrecy about its budgets and use on contractors. Until the announcement of Beckstrom’s appointment, Senators were told the mere existence of the Center was classified.

He also complained that the Department of Homeland Security had undermined the NCSC, claiming that bureaucratic blocks meant the center received just five weeks’ worth of funding during  the whole of last year.

Such inter-agency rows over national computer security could get even more complicated. Barack Obama recently appointed Melissa Hathaway to the National Security Council (a White House department separate to both the Defense and Homeland Security departments) where she’s running a 60-day review of national cybersecurity.

Once this is complete, there’s a strong possibility she’ll take on a ‘cyber czar’ role in the White House overseeing both the NCSC and NSA’s work on computer issues. It’s certainly possible Beckstrom quit after realizing his powers were likely to become even further diluted if Hathaway took on such a role.

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Entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 12:51 pm under Politics, Security.

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