"We are delighted to welcome one of the nation's most illustrious public servants to George Mason," said Dan Polsby, Dean of the Law School. "Mick Kicklighter has the ideal combination of expertise, energy and people skills for this assignment. We look forward to his arrival with great excitement."

A retired Army lieutenant general, Kicklighter has served in a number of senior positions in the Departments of Defense, State and Veterans Affairs.. Prior to being Inspector General, he was Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. In 2005, he was chosen to lead the efforts of the Departments of State and Defense in developing the Iraq/Afghanistan Joint Transition Planning Group. In 2004, he was designated as Special Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State for Stabilization and Security Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He previously served as Director of the Department of Defense's Iraq Transition Team, which planned the establishment of the new U.S. Mission to Iraq. He served also as Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Policy and Planning, the Secretary's senior advisor on planning, policy research and analysis, among other issues.

As an army officer, Kicklighter commanded units at every organizational level, from platoon to division, including a stint as Commander, U.S. Army Pacific, 25^th Infantry Division (Light) and the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command.  In addition to numerous awards for his military service, he is a recipient of the Presidential Citizen Medal, the Eisenhower Liberation Medal, the Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service and a two-time recipient of the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Mick Kicklighter is a graduate of Mercer University and holds a masters degree from George Washington University. He is also a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He was identified after a national search assisted by Leonard Pfeiffer & Company, a Washington, D.C. based executive search firm.

The Critical Infrastructure Protection Program is a part of George Mason University School of Law. The CIP Program specializes in basic and applied interdisciplinary research in critical infrastructure protection, homeland security and national security issues.  The Program also produces a monthly topical publication, The CIP Report, that is read widely among public and private decision-makers interested in security issues. 

The following is the table of contents from the current issue:

Israeli CIIP Policy ...............................2
Australian Resilience Planning ...............................4
New Swedish Agency ...............................5
Estonian Cyber Defense ...............................7
UK Criticality Scale ...............................8
European Union CIP ...............................9
CFIUS ...............................11
Legal Insights ...............................12
Press Release ...............................16                                                                                                                                                      Insight into July Issue .........................................................17

Read Full Issue Here 

Wolf revealed in his press release that four computers in his personal office, as well as those of several other House members and of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, were compromised by outside sources believed to have probed the computers to evaluate the systems' defenses and to view and copy sensitive information. Wolf believes there is a strong likelihood that these cyber attacks issued from within the People's Republic of China.

"Computer systems control all critical infrastructures, and nearly all of these systems are linked together through the Internet. This means that nearly all infrastructures in the United States are vulnerable to being attacked, hijacked or destroyed by cyber means," Wolf stated.

Wolf Reveals House Computers Compromised by Outside Sources, Press Release from the Office of Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th), June 11, 2008.

Excerpt:
"Not long ago, few people within the U.S. government or in universities were systematically studying how a massive failure of our infrastructure could seriously disrupt our economy and way of life. 

"Few understood that we could be vulnerable to damaging attacks launched from overseas using only computers via cyberspace. 

"The Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Program at George Mason University and James Madison University, which is now six years old, was formed in response to this gap in our knowledge about cyber threats. 

"At my request, the CIP Program began producing a monthly topical publication on homeland security issues that is required reading in the Pentagon, Homeland Security, DOE and state and local homeland security agencies.

"Despite everything we read in the press, our intelligence, law enforcement, national security and diplomatic corps remain hesitant to speak out about this problem. Perhaps they are afraid that talking about this problem will reveal our vulnerability.  In fact, I have been urged not to speak out about this threat.

"But our adversaries already know we are vulnerable. Pretending that we are not vulnerable is a mistake. 

"As a nation, we must decide when we are going to start considering this type of activity a threat to our national security, a threat that we must confront and from which we must protect ourselves."

Read Statement from Hon. Frank R. Wolf (R-VA) here

Read House Resolution 1263 Here

For information on the event, including a "Save the Date" announcement that features the names of all event sponsors, please visit http://cipp.gmu.edu/research/SupplyChainConference.php.  This webpage will be updated regularly as additional information becomes available.  An event invitation will also be released in the near-term

The following is the table of contents from the current issue:

Overview of Dams Sector ...............................2
Sector-Specific Agency ...............................4
Sector Coordinating Council ...............................6
ASDSO ...............................8
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation ...............................10
Legal Insights ...............................12
18th Sector Annoucement ...............................22
                                                        

Read Full Issue Here  

The March / April 2008 issue of ECN is available at http://www.irriis.org/ecn/ECN%20issue%209%20v1.pdf.  For more information on IRRIIS, please visit http://www.irriis.eu/.

The following is the table of contents from the current issue:

CNDCIEM ...............................2
NISAC ...............................4
C-IT EnviroSec ...............................6
Rising Sea Levels ...............................8
Electric Reliability  ...............................10
Legal Insights ...............................12
SARMA Conference Reminder ...............................18
                                                     

Read Full Issue Here  

The following is the table of contents from the current issue:

Sector Overview ...............................2
SSA Overview ...............................4
Tabletop Exercises ...............................5
FDA Food Protection Plan ...............................6
NCFPD ...............................7
FAZD Center ...............................9
FBI's Safe-Guarding Role ...............................11
InfraGard ...............................13
Legal Insights ...............................15                                                          

Read Full Issue Here