False sense of cybersecurity a costly problem for U.S.

From...

June 20, 2000
Web posted at: 8:39 a.m. EDT (1239 GMT)

by Dan Verton

(IDG) -- The absence of a catastrophic cyberattack against the United States has created a false sense of cybersecurity and has allowed costly Cold War-era Pentagon programs to siphon money from critically needed information technology and security programs, a panel of experts warned last week.

"We're still mired in a Cold War-era defense spending mentality," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) at a symposium titled "Technological Change and American Security" and sponsored by The Brookings Institution.

The rapid advance of IT has created "real and potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities," Schumer said, adding that the consequences of a cyberterrorist attack "could be devastating."

Eye of the Beholder

	MESSAGE BOARD
Insurgency

However, senior security officials are battling a perception problem, according to experts who took part in the symposium. Without a clear-cut example of an "electronic Pearl Harbor," where a surprise cyberattack cripples financial markets and other critical systems, it's difficult to convince top military and political leaders that IT research and development should be a bigger priority in the budget process, experts say.

"Cyberterrorism is not an abstract concept," said Jeffrey Hunker, senior director for critical infrastructure protection at the National Security Council. Although attacks historically have been labeled as "nuisances," that may not be the correct way to look at the problem, Hunker said.

The government is dealing with an "enormous educational deficit" when it comes to IT security, he said.

Part of the problem is the fact that the Defense Department remains committed to lobbying Congress for money to pay for programs such as the F-22 Joint Strike Fighter instead of increasing funding for IT programs, said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow for foreign policy studies at The Brookings Institution.

"I believe that is not affordable even in this age of surpluses," O'Hanlon said, adding that DOD's assumptions about future budget gains are "wrong."

MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE

IDG.net home page

Federal Computer Week home page

Free Subscriptions to Federal Computer Week

IDG.net's personal news page

Experts lecture feds on cybersecurity

Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net

E-BusinessWorld

TechInformer

Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you

Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletters

Search IDG.net in 12 languages

News Radio

Fusion audio primers

Computerworld Minute

O'Hanlon advocated spending more money on advanced sensors, precision-guided weapons and other IT programs. That type of investment would preclude the need to buy costly systems such as the F-22, he said.

But even events such as the outbreak of the "love bug," which reportedly cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars, have not convinced people in and out of government that the problem is real, Schumer said. Usually, when a major crisis costs people a lot of money, it leads to many visits to Capitol Hill and requests for help, Schumer said. But that never happened after the love bug outbreak, he said.

Some experts have questioned the government's liberal use of the term terrorism to describe acts of mass disruption on the Internet. However, when asked about the seeming lack of interest in cyberattacks by well-known terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, a senior White House official said the focus should not be on what bin Laden does or does not do, but on being proactive and understanding that a major attack may be coming.

Hunker said he agrees. "We are attempting to be proactive," he said. "I believe that we are going to get nailed seriously."

The National Security Agency is one of the federal entities that has taken a proactive approach toward security cooperation between government and industry.

But one of the biggest challenges facing the nation, highlighted during the love bug incident, remains convincing industry that security is as important as making money, said John Nagengast, assistant deputy director for information systems security at NSA.

"Vendors and users have to treat information assurance as a fundamental precept of doing business," he said. "It has to become part of the business case."

FBI, DOJ issue list of worst Net threats
June 2, 2000
Senate eyes Guard for info security
June 1, 2000
Top 10 security utilities
May 22, 2000
Intel standard aims to tighten notebook security
May 15, 2000
Win 2000 at center of security storm
May 10, 2000
Microsoft issues fixes for Win2000 security holes
February 1, 2000

Should you encode your e-mail?
Industry Standard
Service-based security
InfoWorld
Virus threat spreads to wireless
Computerworld
WebAgain can undo hacker damage
PCWorld
PrivaSeek protects your privacy
PCWorld
IT gets an assist with security
Infoworld
Rx for security
Network World Fusion
Experts lecture feds on cybersecurity
FCW

National Security Agency
Hacking news headlines

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.