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[infowar.de] Cyber-Security Plan der US-Regierung unter Druck



Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59168-2002Sep9?language=3Dprinte=
r

Administration Pares Cyber-Security Plan
Firms Fight Some Recommendations

By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 10, 2002; Page A04

As the White House moves to finalize a national plan to better secure cybe=
rspace, 
high-tech firms and other companies are continuing a furious campaign to h=
ave 
some recommendations struck from the document.

The administration no longer plans to recommend that Internet service prov=
iders 
such as America Online, MSN and EarthLink bundle firewall and other securi=
ty 
technology with their software. Instead, it will ask ISPs to "make it easi=
er" for home 
users to get access to such protections.

It also does not plan to recommend that a privacy czar be appointed to ove=
rsee how 
companies make use of their customers' personal information, according to =
several 
people involved in drafting the document.

A government official said the changes were made in hopes the plan would b=
e 
adopted voluntarily by industry and not necessitate another layer of gover=
nment 
regulation.

Several companies have argued that if the government tells people what to =
buy and 
dictates how they should run their businesses, innovation will be squelche=
d. But 
others said private industry was more concerned about the costs involved i=
n carrying 
out the recommendations. Businesses also worry about taking on new legal l=
iability.

"I've been really shocked at how companies have been acting in their own i=
nterest 
rather than in the national interest," said Allan Paller, director of the =
SANS Institute, a 
computer-security think tank and education center.

Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of Amer=
ica, which 
represents 500 companies, said the private sector is in no way trying to d=
ilute the 
plan. It was the industry, in fact, that first suggested a plan be develop=
ed, he said.

"The idea that industry is somehow a reluctant partner is inaccurate," Mil=
ler said.

At about 150 pages, the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, which is s=
cheduled 
to be released Sept. 18, remains a weighty document outlining about 80 new=
 
obligations for the government, companies, universities and even home comp=
uter 
users.

The most extensive recommendations are for the government. The plan would 
restrict federal workers from using certain wireless technologies and mand=
ate that 
agencies only purchase software that has been certified to be secure.

One of the top priorities, according to one draft, is for the government a=
nd the private 
sector is to make sure computers that control major systems such as subway=
s, 
nuclear reactors and dams are secure.

Also under consideration are recommendations calling for the establishment=
 of a 
center that would study computer viruses, worms and other security threats=
; an 
accreditation board that would certify security personnel; and a private-p=
ublic 
program that would help pay for security enhancements for critical parts o=
f the 
Internet, including the routers that direct traffic, as well as operating =
systems such as 
Windows, Linux and the Mac OS.

Some drafts also outline plans for the collection and analysis of network =
data that 
pass through universities -- places often used as jumping-off points for c=
yber-attacks. 
The draft also includes a plan to educate home users on how to secure thei=
r 
computers.

The national strategy is being compiled and analyzed by Richard A. Clarke,=
 director 
of the Office of Cyberspace Security, with input from a cross section of i=
ndustry 
representatives, computer science experts and others.

It is scheduled to be delivered to President Bush for his signature in the=
 next week.

=A9 2002 The Washington Post Company 

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