Hand-to-Keyboard Combat

The Russian ground assault in Georgia:  Dimitar Dilkoff/Getty Images

Now, in a quiet effort to bolster countermeasures against such cyber-terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security has launched the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), part of the semi-classified, $17-billion Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) formed by presidential directive in January to secure government computer systems -- and later, as the initiative develops, sensitive civilian networks -- from cyber-intrusions.

The NCSC's mission is to monitor, analyze, and distribute data related to threats on government networks. In very broad terms, the objective is to provide better situational awareness for those on the frontlines of the cyber-battlefield and to act as a central hub for interagency information-sharing, unifying the alphabet soup of government agencies in warding off attacks.

Heading the NCSC is Rod Beckstrom, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur who co-founded TWiki.net, which sells open-source collaboration software to businesses. Beckstrom, who co-authored the best-selling management book The Starfish and the Spider, is an unlikely fit with Washington's bureaucracy. His book proposes a decentralized management model -- perhaps just what the federal government's innumerable agencies, bureaus and departments need.