The National Emergency Technology Guard (NET Guard) is a conceptual corps of

volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

with technology experience that help out after disasters in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is codified under Public Law 107–296 on November 25, 2002 as part of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security created by the

Homeland Security Act of 2002 The Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002, () was introduced in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent mailings of anthrax spores. The HSA was cosponsored by 118 members of Congress. The act passed the U.S. Senate by a vote of ...

. In 2018, Public Law No: 115-278 was codified to amend the authority of creating NET Guard to the

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is responsible for strengthening cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, ...

. The planned role of NET Guard teams would be to repair downed communications systems, restore computer operations and create new systems to aid support and recovery efforts. Volunteers would receive training periodically, like members of the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

, and would have a clear

chain of command A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part. Milit ...

to coordinate efforts. In addition, Net Guard would be responsible for maintaining a strategic reserve of equipment—like

cellphones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...

switches In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type of ...

computers A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

and

satellite dishes A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite. The term most commonly means a dish which receives direct-broadcast satellite televisio ...

—that could be deployed on short notice. The corps could also maintain a database of volunteers with professional expertise, such as those with knowledge of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

or technology professionals with knowledge of

computer viruses A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a comput ...

History

The original idea for NET Guard was proposed by Andrew Rasiej, a New York city based tech and social entrepreneur who organized volunteers with tech experience to provide emergency tech support to schools and small businesses in the wake of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. He brought the idea of creating a national "tech corps" to

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the senior United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the United States Hou ...

who chairs the

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate. Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, a ...

(on Science, Technology, and Space) and Senator

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

who proposed the initiative in early 2002 as a way to respond to the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. They introduced the idea in th
Science and Technology Emergency Mobilization Act
which was later incorporated into the bill that created the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...

. However, NET Guard was not yet created. On June 18, 2008, the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Ex ...

(FEMA) announced it was starting a pilot of the program as a potential new

Citizen Corps Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with orga ...

program. FEMA designated US$320,000 available for the program in

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

2008. After the pilot program, no new updates or funding were made to the program. In 2018, the authority to create the NET Guard was placed with the Director of the

(CISA).

NET Guard Team Concept

NET Guard teams would be composed of volunteers with information technology (IT) and communications expertise. Teams are a local asset, managed at the local level, and deployed in response to a request from local or State authorities.

2008 Pilot Teams

FEMA announced September 17 that it was granting four districts $80,000 each to start a pilot program: the city of

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

; the city of

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

;

Cottonwood Heights, Utah Cottonwood Heights is a city located in Salt Lake County, Utah, the United States, along the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley. It lies south of the cities of Holladay and Murray, east of Midvale, and north of Sandy within the Salt Lake City, U ...

; and

Hamilton County, Indiana Hamilton County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. The 2020 United States Census recorded a population of 347,467. The county seat is Noblesville. Hamilton County is part of the Indianapolis- Carmel- Anderson, IN Metropolitan Statistic ...

References

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External links

DHS HomepageFEMA HomepageUS Code defining the program
United States Department of Homeland Security