Are you concerned that even though we have been very successful in developing an effective vaccine that it is going to arrive too late to do the good that we would hope?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. All of us are extremely concerned about the human swine flu outbreak that continues to grow in our country and around the world.

we need to use the procurement power to increase the security of hardware and software that is bought.

I found very compelling the story that you told of a Federal official essentially begging the head of Microsoft to provide a more secure configuration.

That is exactly the issue because what may seem to be an isolated attack affecting one business in one State may, in fact, be part of a network of attacks on several different businesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

But are there no computer programs that one can use to check to see if an intrusion has occurred?

The information and communication networks that we refer to as cyberspace have become critical to our economy, our national defense, and our homeland security.

So to agree on standards?

Along with Senator Lieberman, I am the author of the law that created that center, so I know very well what the NCTC's responsibilities are.

Do the retailers know what law enforcement to go to?

the one huge lever you have. There is nothing close to it. If you want to change security, the lever you have is procurement.

When Senator Lieberman and I sat down to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission back in 2006, we quickly realized that one of the Commission's recommendations having to do with the placement of the National Counterterrorism…

We cannot call the czars or the heads of offices within the Executive Office of the President before this Committee.

So what does that tell us about the standards?

So is the problem in this case the lack of encryption between the retailer and the processing entity or the processing entity and the ultimate credit card company?

We think it is time for that data to be encrypted so that merchants never have those card numbers in their system.

And, of course, it never ends because the criminals become more innovative and defeat the security software.

I do have a couple more questions and one comment.

We are living in a wondrous new age of global information, an era that is being shaped by digital technology.

I think Mr. Reitinger's suggestion for a joint operations center where you have private sector and public sector people collocated and that is the source you go to, I think we need to get moving on that.

I still think there is a lack of clarity here.

I think we need far more clarity in answering that question because it is going to be a lot easier for the business community if there is a single source to go to.

Thank you. Those are very helpful suggestions and ones that we should adopt.

It was the right decision. It has been judged as success by virtually everyone.