About The Information Security Program

Cybersecurity is a journey, not a destination. The nature of the threat is constantly changing. Perpetrators strike and disappear with relative ease and little fear of detection. The motives of those who want to and often do cause damage vary and are sometimes never known. Their targets of opportunity can be both random and specific. Security solutions adapt or quickly lose value. And, meanwhile, lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad struggle to make legal remedies fit crimes unknown just a few years ago. If cybersecurity is indeed a journey, charting a steady course has become absolutely essential.

Beginning in 1997, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) has developed the nation’s leading IT industry information security program. This multifaceted effort brings to the table 200 IT companies with a stake in this issue. With their support, ITAA has proudly served as Sector Coordinator for the Information Technology Industry under Presidential Decision Directive 63 and made an extensive contribution to the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace.

ITAA sponsored regional meetings to build bonds of trust and cooperation between IT companies and local law enforcement agencies. ITAA has led the effort for cross-industry cooperation through the National Cyber Security Partnership, Partnership for Critical Infrastructure Security and the National Cyber Security Alliance. The ITAA Information Security Program supports a critical information sharing entity, the IT Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and works globally through an international organization, the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), to ensure cybersecurity is recognized as a global problem that requires global solutions.

The ITAA Information Security Program provides a great way for companies that develop information security solutions or integrate them in complex systems to network, share views and learn from the perspectives of other. Monthly committee meetings provide on-going access to top executives with information security responsibilities in government. A Chief Information Security Officers dinner series provides an informal setting for view sharing with leaders in both the public and private sectors.

Recent accomplishments include:

• Co-Founder of the National Cyber Security Partnership, a cross-sectoral gathering of private sector organizations across and academia committed individually and collaboratively to implement the National Strategy to Secure Cyber Space.
• Co-organizer of the Information Technology Sector Coordinating Council, which will serve as a focal point for IT sector coordination of critical infrastructure protection and cyber security, and outreach/response for the Federal government.
• Production of a monthly dinner series for Federal Chief Information Security Officers to network with ITAA member company executives
• Publication of an “action agenda” white paper identifying the roles of Congress, government agencies, industry, and end users in heightening information security;
• Creation of a bilateral agreement with the India IT industry on information security;
• Release of a survey of industry initiatives to bolster cyber security;
• High visibility speeches in India, Israel, a gathering of Asia-Pacific government officials, and several conferences around the country;
• Prevention of potentially counterproductive legislative schemes on Capitol Hill to regulate information security in the marketplace.