Secretary Gates and Secretary Napolitano released a joint statement last week announcing their respective agencies would be combining efforts to better coordinate on cyber warfare. It makes sense given the USAF new Cyber Command and creation of whole new cyber career field. DHS is extremely lacking in the manpower to have any impact on preventing cyber terrorism. What isn't clear is what the Department of Defense gets from working with DHS. The military is focused on enemy forces overseas and in the case of Afghanistan, destroying those forces. DHS looks at protecting the homeland mainly from a law enforcement perspective. I imagine DHS is hoping to have access to all of those DoD and NSA resources to keep eyes on threats overseas. The reverse relationship does pose some concerns for civil rights. Could the Department of Defense gain access to law enforcement information on US citizens? Title 10 of the US Code specifically prohibits the use of military forces on US soil except for specific exceptions including martial law. Intelligence oversight specifically prohibits the use of DoD resources to target US citizens for the purposes of gathering information. By combing the efforts of the two agencies, intelligence oversight could be avoided without specifically violating the law.
DHS: Joint Statement
“If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.”--Benjamin Franklin
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