Reno appeals to tech industry to help battle cybercrime

June 20, 2000
Web posted at: 12:00 AM EDT (0400 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Janet Reno has appealed to private technology companies to work with government agencies to fight cybercrime.

At a Cybercrime Summit in Herndon, Virginia on Monday, Reno asked senior information technology executives for suggestions on how to shape the government's handling of cybercrime investigations and prosecutions. She also reasserted the Justice Department's pledge to respect company confidentiality in regard to the public release of sensitive and potentially damaging company information.

The attorney general was the keynote speaker at the session. The meeting, attended by representatives of the FBI, the Justice Department, and state governments, focused on addressing opportunities and barriers to cooperation between the industry and law-enforcement agencies.

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Reno promised to pursue stronger criminal sentences as cybercrime deterrents, along with youth education and parental awareness programs to preemptively strike against teenage hacking crimes.

Reno asked executives to help report cybercrimes promptly and share intra-industry information so law enforcement agencies can be "more effective" at solving cybercrimes.

Reno said there is a growing disparity between cyber technology and cyber security, pointing out America's dependence on the Internet and Web-based technologies for everything from online banking to national defense.

Some IT companies have reservations about sharing information with the government about security breaches.

"When we have an electronic attack or a break-in, there is a general reluctance to announce it," said Terrence Milholland, chief information officer at EDS. "There's fear of adverse publicity and exposures on liability, plus, if we told the government, we'd have to worry about the Freedom of Information Act."

Nevertheless, Milholland said, the benefits of information sharing with the government outweigh the risks.

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