Say the words “security clearance” in a conversation with defense contractors, and the vast majority has a tale to tell of long waits and missed opportunities. Those two words have people in Washington, D.C., talking too. For two years, the organizations in charge of the security clearance process have worked hard to improve it. But for many, the time for revamping the old is over, and the time for creating a new process has begun.

It’s a small world after all. As the Internet continues to connect peoples across the globe, individuals and groups drawn to destruction find new ways to wreak havoc on communications and services. Now, government leaders are coming together with each other and the private sector to form a united front and fight back because a vulnerability in any region can wreak havoc globally. A new multilateral federation is combating cyberthreats and cyberterrorism, creating greater security in developing networks and stopping dangers before they spiral out of control.

Chalk it all up to Melissa, a computer virus that spread rapidly on the Internet and shut down entire e-mail systems. For both the computing public and the information security industry, the Melissa virus—named for a Florida lap dancer, of all things—was a huge wakeup call.

U.S. military and government computer networks are under constant attack from a variety of shadowy online enemies. Until recently, these threats were individuals or small groups without any major financial support. But just as advances in technology are making solo hackers more dangerous, the nation also faces a growing cyber threat from well-funded and equipped groups backed by organized crime or nation-states.

The business community may be both a back door and a front door to espionage activities that threaten U.S. national security. Hostile governments always have viewed companies that do business with their government as a possible conduit for valuable intelligence. But now that threat is extended to those companies’ own activities in the global economy.

A small yet dedicated cadre of network and intelligence experts is helping keep the U.S. Army’s network safe in Europe—and by extension, worldwide—by ferreting out the bad guys in cyberspace. This unique group of civilian soldiers characterizes the threat by examining how adversaries ping and attempt to infiltrate networks, and then it seeks to find their motives. Rather than simply identifying the techniques enemies employ, the group provides the service with the context surrounding attacks so cyberwarriors are better prepared to defend the Army’s information infrastructure.

TThe U.S. Army’s ambitious transformation program is making headway with a series of successful tests and demonstrations. Designed to create an integrated family of vehicles, robots and weapons systems linked through a unified battlefield network, the program has been criticized as being overly complex and expensive. But Army officials hope that the recent tests, coupled with the initial deployment of components of the new system, indicate that the overall effort is on track.

The U.S. Army’s LandWarNet program is reinventing itself as it progresses toward its goal of full connectivity from the command level down to the individual soldier. Technologies deployed in support of warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan are leading to changes in the overarching program, and capabilities introduced by the private sector are adding a new flavor to the Army’s contribution to the Global Information Grid. Even Web 2.0 capabilities are coming into play as they resolve long-standing problems and offer radically new ways of development.

Watching my Cousin Billy in my backyard lying in a hammock as I prepared for my 4th of July barbecue reminded me why protecting Data at the Rest (DAR) is so important. Data at rest is a lot like Billy. Most of the time it just sits around not doing much, but it will move and work if you prod it. But, it isn’t the lack of initiative that bothers me. It’s the potential for the loss of information that keeps me up at night.