Speaking at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, the head of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoffhas appealed to IT professionals to join in the fight against cyber terrorism and attacks, invoking the powerful image of 9/11. Noting that these attacks can easily hit financial bodies andgovernments, he said that the job of security online wasn’t one that the government could handle on its own. Instead, he appealed to companies to “please send some of your brightest andbest to do service in the government." He already has one high-profile recruit, Rod Beckstrom, the founder of Twiki.net, will head a new inter-agencygroup tasked with co-ordinating the federal government’s efforts to protect its computer networks from organised cyber attacks. Will it work, and will others come on board? "Wedon’t compete with the private sector with money. I can tell you what can motivate people is the desire to serve," Chertoff told the BBC. "But, yeah, itis ultimately an appeal for doing something [more] for the common good than for your own enrichment."
