U.S. may need to step in, says cybersecurity report

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Thursday, April 01, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

U.S. may need to step in, says cybersecurity report

By Ted Bridis
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - In a surprise shift, leading software companies acknowledge in 
a report to the Bush administration that the government might need to force 
the U.S. technology industry to improve the security of America's computer 
networks.
The companies, including Microsoft and Computer Associates International, 
said the Homeland Security Department "should examine whether tailored 
government action is necessary" to compel improvements in the design of 
computer software.

The 250-page report containing that recommendation and dozens more is being 
released today. It cautions that government should require security 
improvements only when market forces fail. It also says businesses already 
are demanding software that is safer and more resilient to attacks.

But the report says the most sensitive computer networks - such as those 
operating banks, telephone networks or water pipelines - "may require a 
greater level of security than the market will provide."

In those cases, the software companies recommend "appropriate and tailored 
government action that interferes with market innovation on security as 
little as possible." It urged the government to work with companies to 
produce a formal study during the 2005 fiscal year, which begins in October.

The public acknowledgment that any level of new government regulation might 
be needed to improve software security represents an important shift by the 
technology industry. It has vigorously contested mandates from Washington 
during the past decade, even in the face of increasingly devastating 
attacks by new generations of hackers and viruses.

"That's a big lean in the right direction," said Alan Paller of the SANS 
Institute in Bethesda, Md., a computer-security organization. "It's a nod 
to reality; they're nodding but they've got their heels dug in."

The industry recommendations were solicited by the Homeland Security 
Department's cybersecurity division in December.

Other recommendations include:

* Spending at least $12 million, including $6 million in government money, 
during the next 19 months for a dozen new academic fellowships nationwide 
to teach future computer engineers to design safer software.

* Providing unspecified incentives to companies for reducing software defects.


* Offering bounties for information leading to the conviction of hackers 
and virus writers.

* Establishing a cybersecurity report card for operators of the most 
important computer networks.

* Setting up a government laboratory to keep track of software repairing 
patches and test how effectively they work.



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