PDD 63 status reports due

Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office

The Clinton administration is preparing two reports on the status of the

government's efforts to secure the information systems that support the

nation's critical infrastructure.

One report will be issued by the National Security Council, and the

other will come from the Office of Management and Budget.

Both organizations are gathering information from agencies on the status

of their compliance with Presidential Decision Directive 63, said Sarah

Jane League, Defense Department liaison to the Critical Infrastructure Assurance

Office, speaking Tuesday at the Defending Cyberspace conference in Washington,

D.C.

PDD 63, signed by President Clinton in May 1998, requires agencies to

develop critical infrastructure protection plans for electronic and physical

systems.

The first report — which is being developed by Richard Clarke, national

coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism

at NSC — will be turned over to the incoming president and his transition

team. The fiscal 2001 Defense Authorization Act mandated that OMB produce

the other report. It will be given to Congress by Jan. 15, 2001.

PDD 63 calls for the federal government to achieve full operating capability

by 2003, and the CIAO is helping the national coordinator and OMB develop

the interim reports in the CIAO's role as coordinator of PDD 63 activities.