ACM TechNews
Public, Private Sectors at Odds Over Cyber Security
Los Angeles Times (08/26/08) Menn, Josep
Cybersecurity experts say that three recent, significant computer security
breaches highlight how badly the Internet needs a major overhaul, and
exposes the rift between corporate America and the U.S. federal government
over who is responsible for fixing the Internet. Over the past few months
law enforcement officials busted an international ring that accessed
customer databases and trafficked tens of millions of credit card numbers,
a researcher discovered a major flaw in the Domain Name System that could
allow hackers to redirect Web users to fake versions of popular Web sites,
and computer attacks have been used to cripple the country of Georgia's
Internet capabilities. However, these incidents have done little to make
cybersecurity a more prevalent issue on a national scale. "Nothing is
happening," says Jerry Dixon, former director of the National Cyber
Security Division at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). "This has
got to be in the top five national security priorities." The U.S.
government has primarily argued that the private sector is better
positioned to handle the problem, but corporations say the problem is too
large for them to manage. Industry professionals say the Internet's
technical underpinnings, which are loosely administered by the U.S.
Commerce Department, need a major overhaul to eliminate vulnerabilities.
The disagreement is largely because cybersecurity issues touch on so many
different areas, with DHS overseeing the protection of government networks,
the FBI and Secret Service pursuing cybercrimes, and the U.S. State
Department following up on cases that lead to other countries. The U.S.
government has assembled taskforces that called for increased cooperation
and communication between public and private sectors, but experts say their
efforts have yet to yield tangible results.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-security26-2008aug26,0,2021258.story
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