Securing America and the world: there's much more CEOs need to achieve.

Since September 11, 2001, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been detained in nearly 100 nations, according to the Department of Homeland Security. More than $100 million in terrorist assets worldwide has been blocked or frozen. That's tremendous progress in thwarting those who seek to destroy our global community.

But, of course, there's much more to be done, on so many fronts. With the growing number of terrorist incidents, tighter security is a top priority--not just for governments, but for businesses as well. In fact, governments and businesses, working together, can produce the strongest fortress against attacks on everything from seaports to cyberspace.

It is collaboration, not regulation, that will most effectively address security risks. The best solutions will flow from government policies that encourage greater business participation and that favor collaborative, flexible and focused private-sector initiatives.

Such business-government partnerships can make the greatest impact on economic security by focusing on several key priorities.

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The first priority is to "harden" the Internet. That means working toward safe, secure and survivable communications. Unfortunately, the wonderful accessibility of the Internet is also its weakness, and without additional safeguards, the Internet could become a channel of its own destruction. Outside of the threat of a nuclear bomb or bioterrorism, this issue of Internet porousness offers the most potential for damage.

To harden the Internet, businesses will need to help secure cyberspace for their employees, customers, facilities and communities. For example, companies might consider separating their critical online business functions from other functions to maintain essential business transactions in case of a virus attack. In addition, they can install cyberterrorism protective software inside their firewalls that stops suspicious transmissions before they get a foothold. And finally, the big software makers themselves will need to develop versions that fend off virulent attacks on their programs.

One of the most important ways we can harden the Internet is through email reform and legislation, since email is one of the prime carriers of damaging worms and viruses embedded in attachments. While it's a federal offense to tamper with the U.S. mail, there are absolutely no sanctions against tampering with email. In cyberspace, it's easy for me to send an email in your name to others in your address book without your having any knowledge of it. That's called "spoofing." It's also just as easy for me to send you a notice in the name of your bank or credit card account asking you to verify your account numbers or passwords. That's called "phishing," and it results in millions of dollars worth of fraudulent charges each year--all because there is no legislation to prevent such infiltration into company intranets or personal email. I consider hardening the Internet the single most important security issue the business community faces.

The second priority is to improve supply-chain logistics and port security. By port, I mean any place that's a point of entry to a country--an airport, a seaport or a train station, for instance. Neither government nor industry has focused enough on supply-chain security, but we all know a robust supply chain is crucial to our economic resilience. So we must get smarter about protection at these points. FedEx, for example, has installed radiation detection equipment at all of our overseas facilities to scan 100 percent of our incoming international shipments before they reach our borders.

One of the best examples of government and business working to increase point-of-entry security is the U.S. Customs Department's C-TPAT program. C-TPAT stands for the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. In return for meeting increased levels of security in their global supply chain, from foreign loading docks to domestic ports, the C-TPAT participating companies receive faster processing of their goods through U.S. ports on arrival. FedEx is a participant, and we can certainly vouch for the win-win nature of this program. It's better security for everyone and a more efficient flow of goods for us. Obviously, more security costs more money. That's why we must develop sound investment strategies around supply-chain protection. For example, there are more than 5,000 port-of-entry facilities in the U.S. According to Congress, these port owners will pay more than $7 billion in the next 10 years to enhance security. But all ports are not equal, so let's wisely and carefully consider which are the most critical to secure as part of a long-term strategy.

The third security issue is employment, identity documentation and immigration. The 9/11 Commission confirms that many of the September 11 terrorists were able to obtain visas and other legal documents. We must find new ways to thwart terrorists without undermining lawful employment of non-U.S. workers, who have become great contributors to so many of our businesses. For example, last year about 245,000 immigrants came from Asia, with India and China contributing the most. That influx of educated, creative individuals into our corporations and universities is good for the American economy.

However, in trying to conduct employee background checks, companies still can't access the FBI's criminal database, even though we at FedEx have urged this for quite awhile, particularly for the airlines, freight, chemical and nuclear industries. Instead, these employers must use less-than-perfect commercial databases at higher costs.

Finally, as we focus on the three priorities of cybersecurity, port security and immigration documentation, we must develop and share our best practices. Information sharing is the key to protecting our nation. In the coming year, we expect Congress to support industry efforts to identify such practices. The Department of Homeland Security, in particular, is designing new programs and policies that support widespread adoption of best practices for businesses. Because the private sector owns or operates about 85 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure, such as energy, transportation and financial services, companies must take a leading role in homeland security, strengthening it without stifling the movement of goods and services around the world.

On one hand, the federal government must continue to share with the private sector timely, accurate information about security threats. The more businesses know, the better we can craft solutions and direct security resources to meet the most likely threats. I commend the Department of Homeland Security, which has begun to give regular security alerts to private businesses, and the State Department, which issues a daily up-to-the-minute security report on nearly every country in the world. These efforts go a long way toward enabling businesses to play a bigger role in their own security.

On the other hand, Corporate America must report any suspicious activity to the government. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge likes to point out that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was captured not by a random screening but by an alert state trooper suspicious of his story. At FedEx, we have about 240,000 employees and contractors who are trained to be the eyes and ears of our company and to look for the unusual or suspicious. It is by training and empowering our own employees that we can have tremendous influence on the containment of terrorism.

By taking responsibility for shoring up points of vulnerability in the physical and cyberspace worlds, companies can truly defeat those who would harm our way of business and our way of life. I urge all businesses to become partners with government in making our companies, our country and, ultimately, our world, more secure.

Frederick W. Smith is chairman and CEO of FedEx and chairman of the Business Roundtable's Security Task Force.