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from Washtech.com

CEOs Plan Network to Link Them In Attack
Nationwide System To Speed Response 

By Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 13, 2002; Page E01 

Leaders of the nation's largest corporations are designing a new communications network 
that would alert them immediately to a terrorist attack and enable them to instantly talk with 
one another and government officials about how to respond.

The system would enable competitors in one field, such as telecommunications, to work 
with one another as well as with their counterparts in other industries. It would help private 
companies respond more quickly to disaster scenes and improve their chances of keeping 
the economy running after catastrophes, officials said. 

The initiative comes from a task force set up last fall by the Business Roundtable, an 
organization of about 150 chief executives from companies that generate more than $3.5 
trillion in annual revenue.

Had such a system been in place on Sept. 11, officials said, companies could have gotten 
equipment and supplies to the sites of the attacks in a quicker, more coordinated way. At 
the same time, they said, businesses that depend on the swift delivery of goods to keep 
factories running, such as automakers, would have been able to find quicker supply 
alternatives as airports closed and security was tightened at border crossings.

The planned system, called CEO Link, also could have helped executives amid last fall's 
anthrax mailings, when corporations and governments struggled to protect their mail systems 
while continuing with everyday business, said C. Michael Armstrong, chief executive of AT&T 
and the task force's chairman.

More than 40 top executives volunteered to work on the task force, representing a diverse 
group of industry giants such as Bethlehem Steel Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., CSX Corp., 
General Motors Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., McGraw-Hill Cos. and United Parcel Service of 
America Inc. All signed up within three days of its creation.

"This is unprecedented. It reflects the deep sense of commitment and patriotism and concern 
and obligation that everyone feels to make a difference," Armstrong said.

Other CEOs leading the task force's working groups include Frederick W. Smith of Federal 
Express Corp., Herbert L. Henkel of Ingersoll-Rand Co., Maurice R. Greenberg of American 
International Group Inc. and Sanford I. Weill of Citigroup Inc.

"These CEOs are really looking to make a difference for the country," said John J. Castellani, 
president of the Business Roundtable. "They aren't coming to the table with business agendas. 
They're looking at how to make the country more secure."

AT&T is designing CEO Link at its own expense, Armstrong said. It will include a wireless 
telephone network as well as a secure Web site. Still to be determined is how to tailor the 
system to include state and local governments across the United States, and leaders of 
smaller companies.

The communications network, which initially will be limited to the 150 chief executives in the 
Business Roundtable and the federal government, should be in place within six weeks, 
Castellani said. The users would be pre-certified and require an identification verification to 
participate in any of the conference calls, he said. 

"The system would be up all the time and available all the time, because there's no way to 
predict an event. It would have to be maintained," Castellani said. 

Castellani said the system would enable to executives to talk with one another not only about 
threats but also about ways to respond to potential or actual attacks. The system also could 
be activated after natural disasters, he said.

Armstrong has presented the model for CEO Link to Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and 
other federal officials. Ridge's spokesman, Gordon Johndroe, said Ridge believes the 
communications system "can be helpful with homeland security" and is an example of the 
creativity Ridge hopes to harness within the private sector. 

"This fits in with [Ridge's] mission to create a national homeland security strategy that isn't just 
the federal, state and local government, but also the private sector," Johndroe said, adding 
that Ridge has also met with other groups of business leaders. 

Armstrong said other ideas are still being worked out, including creating a place for corporations 
to share "best practices" for dealing with terrorist threats. Corporations also could share plans 
about how to remain in business while recovering from disasters, he said. 

To encourage these new ideas, Armstrong said, the federal government could offer tax 
credits for anti-terrorism research and development. That idea has been discussed among 
some policy analysts within Ridge's office but Ridge hasn't yet embraced the idea. The 
Business Roundtable also hasn't taken a position.

James L. "J.J." Johnson Jr., an AT&T vice president on loan to the Business Roundtable, 
said the task force also is considering measures to thwart cyber-attacks and avoid widespread 
industry disruptions. He pointed out that most of the nation's critical infrastructure -- such as 
telecommunications systems, energy facilities and financial services networks -- is owned by 
private businesses, not the government, and said that underscored the need for the Business 
Roundtable to encourage new ways of thinking.

� 2002 The Washington Post Company