For example, a terrorist act may at first appear to be a routine hazardous materials incident, leading to the activation of a federal response under this plan. Presidential Decision Directive 63

This May 1998 directive acknowledges computer security as a national security risk and established several entities within the NSC, the Department of Commerce, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to address critical infrastructure protection, including federal agencies’ information infrastructures. It called for the development of a national plan for critical infrastructure protection. It also identifies the specific tasks federal agencies perform when responding to terrorist incidents and sets forth current and projected efforts by the Attorney General in partnership with other federal agencies; the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection and Counterterrorism; and state and local entities to improve readiness to address the threat of terrorism. If state and local first responders are unable to manage a weapons of mass destruction terrorist incident or become overwhelmed, the incident commander can request these and other federal assets. Coordinates federal resources in responding to the off-site monitoring and assessment needs at the scene of a radiological emergency. GAO recommendations We recommend that consistent with the responsibility for coordinating efforts to combat terrorism, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the National Security Council (NSC), in consultation with the Director, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the heads of other executive branch agencies, take steps to ensure that (1) governmentwide priorities to implement the national counterterrorism policy and strategy are established; (2) agencies’ programs, projects, activities, and requirements for combating terrorism are analyzed in relation to established governmentwide priorities; and (3) resources are allocated based on the established priorities and assessments of the threat and risk of terrorist attack. No national threat and risk assessment has been completed to use for resource decisions. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agreed with our recommendation. All of the agencies have made significant progress toward implementing our recommendations. We also recommend that the President establish a single focal point for overall leadership and coordination to combat terrorism. The Administration currently is reviewing the federal CIP strategy. governments to manage the consequences of WMD terrorism. The Office for State and Local Domestic Preparedness Support took the position that the Department of Justice, in both legal and programmatic terms, was the lead agency for preparing state and local governments for WMD terrorism.
What GAO Found

As concerns about terrorism have grown, Executive Branch responsibilities and authorities have received greater attention, which led to the 1998 appointment of a national coordinator in the National Security Council. Both Congress and the President have recognized the need to review and clarify the structure for overall leadership and coordination. The President recently requested that the Vice President oversee a coordinated national effort to improve national preparedness, including efforts to combat terrorism. Federal efforts to develop a national strategy to combat terrorism and related guidance have progressed, but key efforts remain incomplete. The first step toward developing a national strategy is to conduct a national threat and risk assessment. The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have collaborated on such an assessment, but they have not formally coordinated with other departments and agencies on this task. Under current policy, the federal government also has improved its capabilities to respond to a domestic terrorist incident. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are tasked with leading federal efforts in their respective roles for managing a terrorist crisis and the consequences of an incident. Several other federal agencies with response capabilities would support these two agencies. Federal assistance to state and local governments to prepare for terrorist incidents has resulted in training for thousands of first responders--those state and local officials who would first respond at the scene of an incident. To improve this training effort, state and local officials have called for a single federal liaison for state and local preparedness programs. To protect computer systems and the critical operations and infrastructures they support, various efforts have been undertaken to implement a national strategy outlined in Presidential Decision Directive 63. However, progress in some areas has been slow. Specifically, federal agencies have taken initial steps to develop critical infrastructure protection plans, but independent audits continue to identify persistent, significant information security weaknesses that place federal operations at high risk of tampering and disruption.