Lawmakers prod Ridge on security

Bipartisan leaders of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security last month wrote Homeland Security Department Secretary Tom Ridge, pressing him for details on how the department is implementing cybersecurity policies and criticizing DHS for failing to submit a plan to measure its progress.

Lawmakers told Ridge they "wish to ensure that the [National Cyber Security Division] is appropriately placed as an element within the Infrastructure Protection organization, perhaps reporting directly to the undersecretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection or to you."

The NCSD now is a functional unit lower down in the IAIP Directorate. The letter asked Ridge to respond with a comment on the effectiveness and organization placement of the NCSD by May 10.