Darwin McDaniel
Two ICF executives have said the Department of Homeland Security should increase coordinated efforts with the Department of Defense, industry and academia to address emerging threats to critical infrastructure.
Randy James, senior vice president and general manager of cybersecurity and resilience, and John Paczkowski, SVP of homeland security and national resilience, wrote in a joint article posted Monday on FCW that the U.S. needs a “whole-of-nation” approach to deter security challenges.
“Senior national security officials are now confronted with the very real challenges of perceived institutional barriers, lack of mutual trust and confusion over existing authorities and information-sharing forums,†James and Paczkowski noted.
“A new and unprecedented level of interagency and civil-military collaboration is now required — and must be reflected in the national defense strategy.”
They pointed to threats such as the rise of weapons of mass destruction, information warfare, cyber attacks against defense and civilian networks and ban on foreign electronics.
Both executives urged the federal government and the private sector to work together in efforts to address civil-military-industry risks.
“This starts with understanding the present dangers of this new threat landscape and instilling a more integrated, collaborative mentality into agencies’ practices and strategies at the working-level.”
