The country's leading high-tech firms must also make sure they are watching their own backs, Ridge told members of the Electronic Industries Alliance attending a conference at a Washington hotel.
"One security analyst noted that many Silicon Valley firms he audited had great firewalls and no security downstairs," Ridge said. "Anybody can walk in and sit at a computer. Terrorists sitting at one computer can create worldwide havoc. ... All a terrorist needs is a weapon of mass disruption."
The dozens of companies and groups represented by the industry alliance should also work to create new weapons against terrorism such as better smart ID cards and more foolproof X-ray scanners for airports, Ridge said.
If the technology industry does not innovate in the area of security, the nation faces being outsmarted by terrorists.
"While terrorists may not share our entrepreneurial approach, they do have access to our technology. ... Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, used a laptop to research crop-dusters," Ridge said.
Ramzi Yousef -- the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing -- "used his micro-technology training to make bombs."
Ridge also talked of a need for better information-scanning systems; database technology that could be used to cross-reference records on a person or vehicle in minutes.
"We need this technology on our borders to separate high-risk people and high-risk cargo from no-risk people and no-risk cargo," Ridge said.
David McCurdy, president of the Electronic Industries Alliance, said the industry will be engaged in anti-terrorism security for the foreseeable future.
"This is a marathon, this is not a sprint," McCurdy said. "Some of the early challenges are obvious -- both technology and human management in airport security. I think the governor hit a chord when he said he wants the industry to be cognizant of government's long-term goals, but he wants it to generate and create new ideas to respond."
Ridge warned that the nation could never be immune from terrorist attacks without violating personal freedoms.
That reality means that states and local governments must have efficient hi-tech emergency management systems and communications devices.
In an attack, "there is only time to do, there is no time to experiment," he said.
Copyright 2002. Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
