Tenet calls for Internet security

[Tyler Durden]

"The national press, including United Press International (UPI), were
excluded from yesterday's event, at Mr. Tenet's request, organizers said."

I guess that summarizes his 'vision' better than anything he actually said.

-TD


>From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
>To: cryptography at metzdowd.com, cypherpunks at al-qaeda.net, 
>osint at yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Tenet calls for Internet security
>Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 20:57:27 -0500
>
>Now... Try not to laugh, here...
>
>MMMGGGPPPFFFFFBWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
>
>Heh... Yes, well... Sorry about that.
>
>Carry on.
>
>Cheers,
>RAH
>-------
>
><http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20041201-114750-6381r>
>
>The Washington Times
>  www.washingtontimes.com
>
>Tenet calls for Internet security
>By Shaun Waterman
>UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
>Published December 2, 2004
>Former CIA Director George J. Tenet yesterday called for new security
>measures to guard against attacks on the United States that use the
>Internet, which he called "a potential Achilles' heel."
>      "I know that these actions will be controversial in this age when we
>still think the Internet is a free and open society with no control or
>accountability," he told an information-technology security conference in
>Washington, "but ultimately the Wild West must give way to governance and
>control."
>      The former CIA director said telecommunications -- and specifically
>the Internet -- are a back door through which terrorists and other enemies
>of the United States could attack the country, even though great strides
>have been made in securing the physical infrastructure.
>      The Internet "represents a potential Achilles' heel for our financial
>stability and physical security if the networks we are creating are not
>protected," Mr. Tenet said.
>      He said known adversaries, including "intelligence services, military
>organizations and non-state actors," are researching information attacks
>against the United States.
>      Within the federal government, the Department of Homeland Security 
>has
>the lead role in protecting the Internet from terrorism. But the
>department's head of cyber-security recently quit amid reports that he had
>clashed with his superiors.
>      Mr. Tenet, who retired in July as director of the CIA after seven
>years, warned that al Qaeda remains a sophisticated group, even though its
>first-tier leadership largely has been destroyed.
>      It is "undoubtedly mapping vulnerabilities and weaknesses in our
>telecommunications networks," he said.
>      Mr. Tenet pointed out that the modernization of key industries in the
>United States is making them more vulnerable by connecting them with an
>Internet that is open to attack.
>      The way the Internet was built might be part of the problem, he said.
>Its open architecture allows Web surfing, but that openness makes the
>system vulnerable, Mr. Tenet said.
>      Access to networks like the World Wide Web might need to be limited 
>to
>those who can show they take security seriously, he said.
>      Mr. Tenet called for industry to lead the way by "establishing and
>enforcing" security standards. Products need to be delivered to government
>and private-sector customers "with a new level of security and risk
>management already built in."
>      The national press, including United Press International (UPI), were
>excluded from yesterday's event, at Mr. Tenet's request, organizers said.
>
>--
>-----------------
>R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at 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'