Gilmore warns of threat to information systems

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/security/18260-1.html

By Richard W. Walker 
GCN Staff
03/27/02

If terrorists strike the United States again, their targets could be
information systems or critical systems infrastructures, former
Virginia governor James Gilmore said yesterday.

"Cyberattacks or attacks on critical infrastructures are the most
likely next attacks," Gilmore said at a panel discussion sponsored by
Johns Hopkins University's Information Security Institute in Laurel,
Md. He is chairman of the National Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic
Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass
Destruction.

In its third annual report last December, the panel recommended
measures to deal with terrorist threats to IT, including the creation
of an independent commission to evaluate cybersecurity programs and
strategies for improving cybersecurity.

Former Defense Department deputy CIO Marvin Langston told the audience
that IT has become a larger target because "we're now critically
dependent on computers in everyday existence on this planet."

James Lucier, senior Washington analyst for Prudential Securities of
New York, said the Internet is becoming a critical infrastructure.

Combating threats will require a new vision of electronic security,
Lucier added.

"E-security must be baked in, not sprayed on," he said.

Citing privacy concerns, Gilmore said he opposed developing a national
identification system as a defense against terrorism. "Too creepy for
me," he said.

Instead, increased collaboration and information sharing among federal
agencies and state and local governments are crucial ways to prepare
against the threats, he said.

"We have to develop cultural institutions to share intelligence," he
said.




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