Ex-Homeland Chief Michael Chertoff Praises Obama’s Security Measures

It’s refreshing to see a former Bushee voice an independent opinion that is not steeped in bitterness or total partisanship.

By The National Journal

In a recent interview with NationalJournal.com, former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff differed with two of his Bush administration colleagues — backing away from statements by former Vice President Dick Cheney that President Obama had made the country less safe and slamming former FEMA Director Michael Brown as “obviously bitter.”

Chertoff had nicer things to say about the current White House, praising the Obama administration for continuing Bush-era policies like the Merida Initiative to fund anti-drug efforts in Mexico and invoking the state secrets privilege.

Since leaving government, the former secretary has started his own security consulting firm, the Chertoff Group. Edited excerpts of his conversation with Alina Selyukh follow.

NJ: One of the issues you work on with the Chertoff Group is cybersecurity. Who do you think was behind the recent online intrusion onto the U.S. electricity grid?

Chertoff: The issue of attacks or intrusions on networks has been an issue we’ve been talking about for several years now. And without getting into things that are classified, obviously, some of these kinds of intrusions do come from other countries. Some of them come from criminal groups. Some of them just come from people who are hackers who want to prove that they can intrude in a network…. The key is to try to create a system that protects you from all of these groups.

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