With so much of the nation's commerce and vital infrastructure dependent on the Internet, U.S. intelligence and Homeland Security officials fret that cyber networks represent a backdoor through which terrorists and other enemies can attack the United States.

Many of the utilities and other industries and services that the country relies on are controlled through or operate in such cyber networks.

In a speech last December, former CIA Director George Tenet called the Internet, "a potential Achilles' heel for our financial stability and physical security."

Critics of t he Department of Homeland Security say the issue has not been prioritized sufficiently, and the matter came to a head last year when Amit Yoran, who was in charge of the department's National Cyber Security Division, quit suddenly, in part, associates said, in frustration at the way the issue was handled.

Questioned about cyber-threats by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, at Chertoff's confirmation hearing last week, Chertoff undertook to appoint a special adviser on the issue as a member of his personal staff.

"One thing I would like to do actually, in terms of my own staffing of the front office, is make sure I bring somebody on board who really understands computers and these issues," he told Bennett.

Yoran told United Press International that the undertaking was "a very promising step."

"To have someone bringing the issue to the table at that most senior level, the secretary's own office ... It's an optimistic sign," he said.

Yoran noted that Chertoff, as head of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department, had managed the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section of the department, which meant Chertoff had "some engagement with the issue already."

But the appointment of a personal adviser on cybersecurity may not be enough to placate those who have criticized the department for not giving the issue sufficient priority.

Homeland Security currently deals with cybersecurity as a subset of infrastructure protection - guarding the nation's vital organs and arteries against attack from terrorists and others. Yoran, as head of the National Cyber Security Division, reported to the Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection Robert Liscouski.

But lawmakers and industry lobbyists have long believed that the issue needs more visibility and a more senior official to drive government policy , and Chertoff will face moves to force him to appoint a separate assistant secretary for cybersecurity.

A bi-partisan bill creating such a post and sponsored by members of the House Homeland Security Committee was put forward last month. Identical legislation was passed by the House last year as part of the Sept. 11 intelligence reform bill, but was stripped out of the final version - after lobbying from the department, according to a private sector executive familiar with the negotiations.

Supporters of the House bill are looking for a Senate sponsor and Bennett's name has been mentioned as a possible candidate. His interest in the issue dates to 1999, when he was chairman of a special Senate committee on the so-called Y2K problem - the fear that computer systems that relied on a two-digit record of the year might collapse when the digits were both zero.

Bennett's spokeswoman, Mary Jane Collipriest, would say onl y that he was "looking at all the options... to ensure that the (cybersecurity) issue gets the attention it needs."

Opponents of the bill argue that separating the cybersecurity function would be a mistake.

"People, processes and technology - those are the three elements of infrastructure protection across the board," Liscouski - who is leaving the department - told UPI last year, arguing that an integrated approach was essential.

With any piece of critical infrastructure, he explained, "you've got the possibility of a physical or kinetic attack, but equally you could be vulnerable to a cyber attack on the control systems ... you also have to consider the possibility of an insider attack." Weaknesses in any one of those fields could be leveraged to mount an attack in another, he said.

"You could have the best physical security, but that won't stop a cyber attack. You could have great cyber securit y, but that can be defeated by an insider... You have to think holistically."

But not everyone agrees that creating a separate post for cyber-security would endanger that holistic approach.

"You can still integrate (with a separate post), that is what is called executive management," Ed Badolato, a retired Marine Corps colonel who - as deputy assistant secretary of Energy under President Reagan - was responsible for securing the nation's nuclear plants against terrorist attacks in the 1980's.

Badolato, who confirmed to UPI that he was being considered by the White House to replace Liscouski, said that the department needed to do more to attract and retain the best people - especially in a highly competitive area like cybersecurity - and that might mean offering them higher-profile positions.

"Why would they work (at the department)," he asked of experts in the field, "when they can earn double or triple that in the private sector ... and not have to get beat up by Congress over political issues that have nothing to do with the job in hand?"

"You need to elevate the post to get the best people in," he said.

Badolato added that the department needed to do more to develop its links with industry. "We should look back at things like the Manhattan Project," he said, referring to the secret U.S. project in the 1940's that built the atomic bomb, thanks to unprecedented co-operation between the military, private sector engineers and academic scientists.

"The turnover is appalling," he said of the department, which has been roiled by a lengthening series of departures since former Secretary Tom Ridge announced last November that he was leaving. "If that were happening in a Fortune 500 company, the board of directors would be asking questions."

Others say that Congress is seeking to micro-manage the d epartment by promoting legislation even before the new nominee is confirmed.

"Chertoff is going to have to work out his own priorities," said a former senior Homeland Security official, "There's no need to rush in like that (with legislation). They should give him time to find his feet."

The former official said that the drive for a more senior cybersecurity official came in part from computer companies with their eye on the potential sales to be had. "There are some companies ... who are more interested in pushing their products than in thinking about security," the former official said.

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