Much as the ECHELON program began in a different era, the InfraGard program had its inception in an intelligence world unlike the present. In those pre-9/11 days, wide-scale terrorism at home did not seem possible—the previous attacks on the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City federal building seemed like isolated incidents—and our financial cyber infrastructure appeared to be the more likely venue of attack. However, after the deaths of almost 3,000 people, suddenly the likelihood of domestic terrorism seemed to increase, and InfraGard was meant to be one of the first lines of defense.

The private nonprofit group known as InfraGard was founded in 1996 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field office in Cleveland, OH. Starting as a local effort to gain support from tech industries and academia to help combat cyber crime, it expanded to other FBI field offices and went nationwide in 1998. This self-described partnership between the private sector and the FBI is an information-sharing network that connects various state and local law-enforcement agencies, businesses, academic institutions and federal law-enforcement officials. After the attacks of September 11, InfraGard's purview was expanded beyond cyber attacks on American infrastructure to actual physical terrorist attacks, and oversight was transferred to the new Department of Homeland Security. The stated goal of the program is “to promote ongoing dialogue and timely communication between members and the FBI. InfraGard members gain access to information that enables them to protect their assets and in turn give information to government that facilitates its responsibilities to prevent and address terrorism and other crimes.”

FBI field offices gather interested individuals to form local InfraGard chapters. Each chapter is governed by an executive board that meets with an FBI agent. Participants have access to a secure InfraGard website that “provides members with information about recent intrusions, research related to critical infrastructure protection and the capability to communicate securely with other members.”

Matthew Rothschild, investigative reporter and editor of The Progressive, explains just who makes up the ranks of InfraGard: “More than 350 of the top Fortune 500 companies are represented. It’s agriculture, it’s computers, it’s energy, it’s utilities, it’s food industry, it’s transportation, it’s banking, it’s everything.” And what's more, it has grown exponentially in a very short period of time. “In November 2001 there were just 1,700 members,” says Rothschild. “Now there are 32,000 members and there are chapters in every state.”

And this hidden group of informants is granted special rights and privileges not afforded the average citizen. An InfraGard whistleblower revealed to Rothschild that “they get privileges, special phone numbers to call in times of emergency. They can get their family out maybe in times of an emergency or their friends, so they know about these threats. They’re getting secret intelligence on almost a daily basis that the American public isn’t getting, so they’re in the know in a way that we aren’t in the know.”