Clarke Takes Gov't to Task Over Security

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1192919,00.asp

By Dennis Fisher
July 15, 2003 

Former White House cyber-security czar Richard Clarke ripped his 
former employer Tuesday, saying that the government is doing an 
unacceptable job of helping the private sector lock down the nation's 
critical infrastructure. 

Speaking at a press conference called to announce a new private 
alliance of technology companies concerned with security, Clarke took 
the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies to 
task for failing to act quickly on the National Strategy to Secure 
Cyberspace. 

"The reorganization of security into DHS has, at least in the short 
term, made things worse," said Clarke, who is now chairman of Good 
Harbor Consulting LLC, a firm based in Arlington, Va., that counsels 
companies on security and other issues. "The government is less 
capable now of securing its network than it was a year ago. This 
doesn't have to go on." 

Until March, Clarke was the chairman of the President's Critical 
Infrastructure Protection Board, which was dissolved when DHS became 
operational. Since his departure from Washington, he often has been 
sharply critical of the government's foot-dragging in regard to 
cyber-security. 

Clarke added that part of the problem is that many people who were 
supposed to join DHS from other government agencies opted to stay 
where they were, severely damaging the department's efforts to get up 
and running. 

"All of the National Infrastructure Protection Center was supposed to 
move," he said. "Instead, a lot of people decided to stay at the FBI. 
Most of what was moved were empty jobs." 

Clarke's sentiments were echoed by others at the event, including Ronn 
Bailey, CEO of Vanguard Integrity Professionals, a security software 
company based in Las Vegas, which is sponsoring the new alliance. The 
new coalition, known as the Vanguard Technology Alliance, is meant to 
help its members share ideas and technology to create new security 
solutions. 

"The government effort has lost momentum. I personally believe we're 
vulnerable to a cyber-attack of 9/11 magnitude or greater," Bailey 
said. "We are going to address this situation, and we are going to do 
it now." 

Clarke also took on the subject of cyber-terrorism and whether 
terrorist organizations are really capable of successfully attacking 
America's vital networks. 

"IT has always been a major interest of al-Qaeda. We know that from 
the laptops we have that we've recovered that have hacking tools on 
them," said Clarke, who also once served as the nation's top 
counter-terrorism official. "It is a huge mistake to think that 
al-Qaeda isn't technologically sophisticated, a fatal one. They are 
well-trained, they are smart. They proved it on 9/11 with one style of 
attack, and they can prove it again." 


 
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