large infringement on free speech or other values, then we should be very careful. If there is a big security payoff, then we deserve to look at that more carefully," said Swire.
William Reinsch, a Commerce Department undersecretary in the Clinton administration and a principal technology policy adviser, said this week's cyberattacks would have a "galvanizing effect" on companies.
"I think it will help persuade companies to take more precautions, develop more redundant systems, develop means of storing their critical information in remote location," he said. "There will be a lot . . . that I think people will be inspired to do."
The Bush Administration is expected to release sometime this month a new critical-infrastructure plan. One result will likely be a decisive push for security improvement of federal information systems, which are routinely criticized for poor security in reports by government watchdog agencies.
The White House and Congress, so far, have "been unwilling to fund agencies to the level necessary . . . to adequately protect the cyberassets of the government," said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America in Arlington, Va.
