IBM bought Internet Security Systems in October for $1.3 billion and named ISS president and CEO Tom Noonan, ME 83, general manager of IBM Internet Security Systems. Working with the team at IBM, Noonan is responsible for the overall strategy, growth and execution of the security division. Noonan provided the business leadership to Atlanta-based ISS in partnership with founder Christopher W. Klaus, who launched the company in 1994 while he was a student at Georgia Tech. Under Noonan, ISS revenue grew to nearly $330 million in its first decade.

You have compared your new role to running a startup. How is that?

This next phase of ISS is going to be an exciting chapter. The ability to apply virtually unlimited resources to execute our ambitious vision for automating the management of security and managing risk across a distributed enterprise is something that we have always dreamed of. The ability to gain access to IBM's vast customer base and serve them uniquely provides us the opportunity to bring pre-emptive security to the mass market.

IBM Internet Security Systems will operate as a separate division, and the ISS management team will be chartered with operating and growing this company within the IBM company. Startups are full of passion, hope and vision — just like ISS is today.

You are a founding member of President George W. Bush's National Infrastructure Advisory Council. What insights has that given you into security problems facing our nation?

Security is a new force that will shape our culture, our policies and our thinking in the 21st century. Societies around the globe face unexpected threats to national security as we now live in a world where insecurity cannot be eradicated and security requires new means and new visions.

The protection of cyberspace marks the first national security issue our government cannot handle alone. Today's cyber threats are much more complex and destructive than ever before, while becoming easier to create and launch. Today's threats do not discriminate among home users, small businesses, large enterprises and government organizations — putting our citizens, our economy and our national security at risk.

The burden of responsibility ultimately falls to us, as business leaders, to instigate change. Cyber attacks affect business production, intellectual capital, financial stability and customer confidence. Consequently, shareholders, customers, partners and employees will hold companies accountable for such security breaches.

The threats to computer security seem huge — from identity theft to cyber warfare. What are the most serious threats to Internet security?

Cyber threats hold the potential to disrupt every aspect of our lives. As a society, we are just beginning to understand the vast and negative consequences associated with identity theft, loss of personal data and other frauds that compromise our cyber infrastructure. Cyber threats also impact our critical infrastructure systems including the distribution of oil, gas and other sources of energy, transportation systems, financial and banking systems and systems of communication. Perhaps the biggest risk of cyber threats and cyber fraud is the risk that consumers and businesses will lose faith in the Internet as a vehicle for commerce.

©2007 Georgia Tech Alumni Association