Paul Kurtz

Position: Executive director, Cyber Security Industry Alliance, a public policy advocacy group composed of security software, hardware and service vendors that addresses key cyber-security issues.

Career highlights: Special assistant to the president and senior director for Critical Infrastructure Protection, White House Homeland Security Council; senior director, Office of Cyberspace Security and member of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, White House National Security Council; director of counter-terrorism, National Security Council; foreign affairs officer, Bureau of Nonproliferation, State Department; political advisor, Operation Provide Comfort, State Department; and, science attaché, State Department.

Age: 40

Education: BA, political science, Holy Cross College; MA, international public policy, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Personal: Lives in Arlington with wife, Brooke.

How did you get to where you are today?

First, my parents and family provided a solid, thoughtful support structure and a great education. That's a critical foundation for me. Personally, I like to work hard, learn from others and take on significant challenges in my career, particularly in the areas of security . . .

I always wanted to get into the field of security policy. That dates back to high school. In college, I had one professor who was a wonderful teacher of international affairs and who helped open my mind. Unfortunately, he passed away so there was no mentor. I took an unpaid internship at the State Department right after college. I had badgered my way in and they allowed me inside. . . . Then, I took a job as a clerk at a GS-5 level, one of the lowest ranks, to get in. Meanwhile, my friends were making significantly more money than I was and thought I was crazy. From there, I kept on pushing forward inside the State Department, taking on different challenges and jobs and positions that sometimes people didn't want. . . . I was bound and determined once I was inside that I was going to do my best. I had a personal determination to move through the ranks and get to a position where I thought I could effect change. . . .

Over the course of my career, I've retooled several times. Throughout my government service, I worked on several security issues, including weapons of mass destruction nonproliferation, counter-terrorism, critical infrastructure protection and cyber security. Taking on new issues has forced me to look at problems from different perspectives. I saw great success and massive failure during my government career. Success equaled rooting out Iraq's missile and nuclear weapons programs, helping secure the Kurds in northern Iraq, weathering the millennium terrorist threat and Y2K, assembling the president's national strategy to secure cyber space and leading the development of the president's first direction on critical infrastructure protection. Failure was the horrific attacks of Sept. 11. Personally in success and failure, I always try to take away lessons. And after 18 years of government service, I was offered a tremendous opportunity by the leading CEOs in the IT security industry to lead the cyber security alliance. This is a tremendous challenge for me and very important issues in which I believe passionately.

Everyone knows that cyber security, which you can define as the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information systems, is an enormous problem. For years, business leaders and policy leaders have grappled with this problem, developing good ideas but with little forward progress. Meanwhile they were hemorrhaging money, intellectual property, personal identity information and productivity. Our information networks are open and vulnerable. And their security is directly linked to consumer and investor confidence and our overall economic security. And leading CSIA, I believe strongly I have the opportunity to work directly with my member company CEOs, other leaders in industry, government and academia to advance the level of understanding in cyber security policy, executing on many of the good ideas developed over the past several years. We do not have the luxury of time.

I'm motivated by a desire to change the security situation. I'm worried about weapons of mass destruction and their ability to create catastrophic casualties. I'm worried about terrorist threats from Osama bin Laden. I have a desire to see greater security, a greater public good. I believe strongly in this. First, I had a very good government career. Now I have the opportunity to achieve the same goals through the private sector.

-- Judith Mbuya