Security & Accountability: Paul Kurtz, Cyber Security Advisor

As Congress tackles reforming the Federal Information Security and Management Act, known as FISMA, provisions in the new legislation likely will more precisely define responsibility for departmental and agency information security. In this exclusive interview, cybersecurity expert Paul Kurtz, chief information office of Good Harbor Consulting, explains: How a lack of accountability hinders safeguarding federal government information; Why officials who fail to properly assure government data often go unpunished; Why these leaders should be fired when an information security breach occurs. Paul Kurtz served in senior positions on the White House's National Security and Homeland Security Councils under Presidents Clinton and Bush and advised President Obama during the transition. Among his government posts: senior director for national security of the National Security Council's Office of Cyberspace Security; member of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, where he developed the international component of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace; and director for counterterrorism in NSC's Office of Transnational Threats.