Homeland Security's CIO named

A one-time Corning executive has been named chief information officer of the new Department of Homeland Security.

Steven Cooper formerly served as special assistant to President Bush and senior director for information integration in the Office of Homeland Security, the precursor to the new department. Before that, the White House said, he was chief information officer and executive director of strategic information delivery at Corning, which makes fiber-optic cable and components.

The Department of Homeland Security was created in November and, as one of its responsibilities, will work on focusing the government's computer security efforts.

The law creating the department authorizes $500 million for research into new technologies and establishes new computer crimes and penalties. It also requires Internet providers to hand over more information about subscribers to police.

The department, headed by former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, comprises 22 existing federal agencies, including the Secret Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Coast Guard.