[ISN] Expert calls for better security

[William Knowles]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0531/web-secure-06-03-04.asp

By Dibya Sarkar 
June 3, 2004

A leading expert who helped develop the federal cybersecurity strategy
during the Clinton administration said the plan is not working and
needs to be overhauled.

"We are grossly unprepared to address the issue of cyberterrorism,"  
said Jeffrey Hunker, a professor of technology policy at Carnegie
Mellon University.

Hunker, who spoke today at a Washington, D.C., homeland security
conference sponsored by McGraw-Hill Companies, said people need to
better understand the threats, build national structures for network
security, understand the interdependencies with critical
infrastructure, build incentives for educational awareness and
recognize new technologies and standards. He listed six suggestions to
improve cybersecurity:

* Invest more in collecting statistics related to cybercrime 

* Keep what works, such as federal research, developing funding, 
  private and public partnerships and a federal program that provides 
  scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students studying 
  computer security. 

* Develop national standards that have teeth, meaning officials would 
  enforce them. 

* Expand and clearly define organizational and personal liability. 

* Have the Securities and Exchange Commission require companies to 
  disclose cybersecurity investments to their investors. 

* Adjust federal research and development practices that also focus on 
  developing management programs 

Hunker, a former senior director of critical infrastructure with the
National Security Council, said the United States has also failed to
take leadership to shape global policy, leaving that to the European
Union, United Nations and others.

The United States, he added, hasn't seen anything that can even be
characterized as a cyberterrorism. Most events should be described as
either cybercrime or vandalism. "These are...inconvenient but don't
rise to the level of national security," he said.

However, he said there have been cyber skirmishes between countries
such as China and Taiwan and between Israelis and Palestinians. He
said after the Chinese embassy was bombed in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in
1999 by NATO forces, Chinese hackers launched a number of attacks
against U.S. federal institutions.

However, Hunker, who is writing a book about the subject due out soon,
said he expects to see some type of cyberterrorist attack in the next
five years.


 
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