The Foreign Service Journal, September 2005

52 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 5 F O C U S O N D I P L O M A T I C S E C U R I T Y C YBER S ECURITY AT S TATE : T HE S TAKES G ET H IGHER yber security is another form of preparedness, and one that now underlies all other types of protection. Like defending embassies or people, diplomatic cyber security begins with identify- ing the real threat. The Department of State insures its computers and communications against everything imaginable. It anticipates physical attack or natural disasters by main- taining dual network centers in different locations. Contingency plans pre-position computers and phones for core offices to relocate and continue if Foggy Bottom itself is threatened. But the more common threats from day to day are hackers and malicious pro- grams. And State’s information networks become a fat- ter target every year. The department spends an estimated $1 billion per year on information technology, having deployed net- works and applications to unify its employees spread over more than 250 locations around the world. The information residing on its networks includes not only national secrets, but also Social Security numbers, bank routing numbers and sensitive health and law enforce- ment information on its employees. The personal information in the State network on Americans carry- ing passports and foreigners seeking or holding visas has ballooned since the 9/11 attacks. How secure is all this data that is filling up State’s new computers? A Constant and Active Battle Integrity, availability and confidentiality are the key values of cyber security. It is not only about preserving proprietary or secret information, but also about keep- ing the system up and running to make the information available on demand. Every employee who logs into a State Department computer enters a network linking up to thousands of other machines, all connected through secure chan- nels. Over the past five years, the department has greatly expanded both its OpenNet and Classified Networks; each year, more than 43,000 employees access OpenNet, and thousands also log into ClassNet, now found at nearly all embassies abroad. At Secretary Colin Powell’s direction, the department allowed access to the Internet on its unclassified system, offer- ing expanded information resources and capabilities to all employees. However, along with the obvious benefits, the C O VER THE PAST FIVE YEARS S TATE HAS GREATLY EXPANDED ITS IT NETWORKS . J UST HOW SECURE ARE THE DATA FILLING UP ITS NEW COMPUTERS ? B Y J OE J OHNSON