Bureau's new name says security

Bureau of Industry and Security

The Commerce Department last week renamed its Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) to better reflect the bureau's role in homeland and cybersecurity policy.

The newly named Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) still handles all of the export control issues that were the basis of BXA, including those dealing with high-performance computers and encryption.

The bureau's priorities or activities have not changed in any way, Commerce officials said. However, the new name provides better understanding of the bureau's role as the home for the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (CIAO) and as the liaison for working with the private sector on security matters.

"The new name better reflects the breadth of the bureau's activities in the spheres of national, homeland, economic and cybersecurity," Kenneth Juster, the Commerce undersecretary leading BIS, said in a statement.

The CIAO is the lead organization within the administration working with industry on critical infrastructure protection matters. The Clinton administration created the office in 1998, and the Bush administration kept the CIAO as part of its critical infrastructure protection and homeland security strategies.

The office continues to support Richard Clarke, the president's cyberspace security adviser, who also works under Tom Ridge, director of the Office of Homeland Security.