NETWATCH . . .I-WAY PATROL

The Clinton Administration today proposedcreating a new federal agency to police the "information superhighway."The Wall Street Journal reports that the new federal entity would respond to hacker intrusions that have undermined faith in thesecurity of electronic information and transactions, particularly as financial, transportation and other systems become almost exclusively electronic. The proposal, from a governmentwide task force called the National Information Infrastructure Forum, would train officials to respond to security "emergencies" andpush for encryption standardsthat government and industry could share.