[iwar] [fc:Tenacity.Carries.The.Cybersecurity.Message]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2002-01-04 19:03:22


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Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 19:03:22 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Tenacity.Carries.The.Cybersecurity.Message]
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Tenacity Carries The Cybersecurity Message 
By John Rendleman, Information Week, 1/4/2002
<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011221S0014">http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20011221S0014>

When national cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke talks about the danger
that cyberterrorists pose to the nation's computer systems, it's clear
he believes a major attack is simply a matter of when. He warns of a
"digital Pearl Harbor," in which an attack on one portion of the
nation's IT infrastructure would have a domino effect on other systems,
halting operations at hospitals, airports, and utilities. "Our enemies
know our technology as well as we do, and our enemies will use our
technology against us," he says. "Our enemies will find the fissures and
the seams in our high-tech economy." 
Clarke will need all his conviction and persistence to marshal the
government, private businesses, and the IT industry behind a campaign to
protect critical systems. Clarke, appointed in October by President Bush
to the newly created post of special adviser to the president for
cyberspace security, also is chairman of the President's Critical
Infrastructure Protection Board. That position makes him the federal
official most directly responsible for protecting not just IT systems
and electronic networks such as telecommunications infrastructure and
the Internet, but all essential utility systems, including energy,
water, and transportation. He reports to Homeland Security Director Tom
Ridge and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. 
Clarke, 50, is a government lifer who's moved through a number of
defense and intelligence jobs. The thorniest part of his current
position is convincing government officials and private companies that
the threat posed by computer attacks is as big as he believes it is.
Clarke considers it the government's job to discuss with IT vendors what
they're doing to harden next-generation computer hardware and software
systems and critical nationwide networks against electronic and physical
attacks. "The problems they've seen to date aren't a good indicator of
what they'll see in the future," Clarke says. "Rather than looking at
the past, they need to look at the vulnerabilities." 
Colleagues say Clarke's persistence will help him convince doubters of
the pressing need to prepare for cyberattacks. "The thing about Dick is
that once he gets the bit in his teeth, he doesn't let go easily," says
Bob Kimmitt, executive VP of global and strategic policy at AOL Time
Warner. As a National Security Council official, Kimmitt worked with
Clarke in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 
Clarke's determination and focus can come off as caustic or abrasive at
times, yet he can't afford to ruffle too many feathers. How successful
he'll be in preparing the country for cyberthreats will depend heavily
on his powers of persuasion, since his office has only a half-dozen
staffers and no regulatory authority of its own. Clarke must persuade
others in government to carry out his office's policy recommendations,
while also convincing private-sector companies to step up their own
security efforts. 
He doesn't think it's proper for the government to dictate exactly how
the IT industry should respond to the threat of cyberterrorism. "The
government is incapable of writing regulations to create IT security,"
he says. What it can do is increase awareness of the threat, research
new security technologies, and assess how interdependent systems would
respond in attack scenarios. 
Clarke sees his key challenge as convincing policy makers and businesses
that-in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks-they've devoted too
little money, time, and attention to cyberthreats. "We need to insist
that the next generation of hardware and software systems have security
built into their basic architecture," he says. "As long as we're a
superpower, there will be people who will come after us."

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