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The Bright Side Of Security
by Bara Vaida
Despite the high-tech sector's slump in 2001, the Information Technology Association of America's revenue grew 11 percent and its membership about 8 percent, in part because of the organization's renewed focus on cyber security, according to ITAA President Harris Miller.
"One of the reasons we were able to grow last year was our leadership in homeland security and computer security," said Miller, whose association also lost some members in 2001 because of the high-tech decline. "It is an area that attracts members to us, and we have a lot of visibility on this."
As high-tech associations scramble to find new sources of revenue, many of them are joining ITAA in seeing new promise in the cyber-security arena. For example, in the past year, the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the Northern Virginia Technology Alliance (NVTC) and the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) have significantly boosted their focus on computer security. Each of the associations has a different approach to computer security, but all agreed it is likely to be a new technology growth area, especially with the government's increased interest following the Sept. 11 terrorism.
"I have every confidence in the world that this [computer security] and systems security will continue to be a growth industry," said Robert Cresanti, vice president of public policy at BSA.
Bush Budget Request Shows Growth Area
Indeed, President Bush's fiscal 2003 budget proposal, sent to Congress on Monday, shows the potential for growth. It calls for a 15.5 percent boost in information technology spending at federal government agencies, the biggest increase in five years.
Agencies currently spend $45 billion a year on technology products and services, and Bush has asked Congress for $52 billion. That spending is to be focused on his three primary areas: beating terrorism, increasing homeland security and revitalizing the economy.
Many firms are eager to get a slice of those funds. Dulles, Va.-based Server Vault, a data-security firm, is working through an association as a way to partner with larger corporations bidding on government contracts. Server Vault CEO Patrick Sweeney joined the NVTC and helped form a panel of northern Virginia infrastructure companies to discuss vulnerabilities on the Internet, as well as to lobby Congress and agencies on the best security practices.
"Belonging to the NVTC gives us a front-and-center position," Sweeney said. "And it benefits companies like us that are new players in the industry ... in that it allows us to partner with some of the established defense contractors. Often times, NVTC will help facilitate" those partnerships.
Redwood City, Calif.-based Tumbleweed Communications also is using its membership in associations and lobbying groups like ITAA to increase its visibility. Tumbleweed CEO Jeff Smith has taken advantage of ITAA-organized meetings with members of Congress and the administration to discuss cyber-security policy.
"We plan to spend a good chunk of our time meeting with members on the Hill, as well as with the chief information officers at federal agencies" this year, Smith said.
Groups See Greater Activity On Hill
ITAA's Miller said voices like Smith's will be even louder in Washington because he is part of an association. ITAA has been working on cyber security for almost three years and helped develop the IT Information Sharing Assurance Center (IT-ISAC), a private-sector partnership with the federal government that aims to boost security within the sector. Miller said since Sept. 11, his organization has been asked by various federal agencies to help them sift through the thousands of technology solutions offered by the private sector to help boost homeland security.
"We were asked by multiple agencies to help them sort out some of the clutter and help them bring partners to the table to focus on solutions, rather than on particular products and approaches," Miller said. He recently brought in several member companies to meet with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.
BSA, whose members include Dell Computer, Intel and Microsoft, began pushing the association in early 2001 to increase its focus on Internet security. By the end of the year, the organization had built a Web site focused on security and made security the lead topic of its annual CEO conference in December. The keynote speaker was White House Office of Cyberspace Security Director Richard Clarke, who highlighted BSA's new best-practices guide on ensuring the computer security of individuals, businesses and governments.
In addition, BSA arranged a meeting for its member CEOs with a half-dozen senior Bush administration officials, including White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. "Our CEOs offered direct assistance ... and their expertise to the government ... and the administration said they would get back to them," Cresanti said.
Sept. 11: A Driving Force
EIA also is aggressively increasing its presence in cyber security. Last April, it decided to create the Internet Security Alliance (ISA) with Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) as a cross-sector organization that aims to provide early warnings about cyber threats, as well as to develop standards for and best practices in cyber security.
The ISA, which includes Sony, Raytheon and VeriSign, aims to be a global organization, since the Internet does not stop at U.S. borders. The ISA also has arranged meetings on the Hill for its members to discuss cyber security.
"I don't know that Sept. 11 has helped to drive membership, but as a general rule, everyone that we've talked to about membership and conferences ... has shifted to a focus on security," said Jerry Irvine, ISA's director of communications. "They are looking for leadership on security intelligence, best practices and standards, and to have a finger on the pulse of what kind of legislation is coming down the pike."
CompTIA started focusing on cyber security after Sept. 11 by creating a Web site for enlisting IT volunteers to help rebuild New York's infrastructure. Tom Santaniello, CompTIA's manager of U.S. public policy, said through the process of trying to find IT volunteers, the group realized that there is a severe shortage of IT security workers and decided to make that issue a key policy item.
The group held a conference on the Hill last month to focus on funding for programs that would encourage colleges to graduate students with IT security degrees. CompTIA plans to hold more conferences in coming months.
Some associations do not have plans to delve headlong into the security issue. The Information Technology Industry Council has decided to approach security as an aspect of promoting e-government. It plans to look at ways to unite industry and government officials in putting more government services online rather than focusing on the freestanding issue of cyber security.
The electronics group AeA also has no special plans to tackle cyber security. John Palafoutas, the senior vice president of domestic policy and congressional relations, said AeA's members are not clamoring for a focus on the issue, and he is not sure that cyber security will be a growth area for the high-tech sector.
"Is there money there? I'm not sure," Palafoutas said.
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