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. ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as rah@shipwright.com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/ --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'