[iwar] [fc:US.names.cyber-terrorism.czar]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-10 08:58:40
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Wednesday, 10 October, 2001, 07:34 GMT 08:34 UK
US names cyber-terrorism czar
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1590000/1590398.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1590000/1590398.stm>
 
The US fears terrorists will launch cyber attacks on key infrastructure

By BBC News Online's Kevin Anderson in Washington

The United States has heightened security across the nation, and on
Tuesday President Bush took steps to heighten security in cyberspace. 

A day after former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge was named to the
newly created post of director of the Office of Homeland Security,
retired Army General Wayne Downing was appointed to serve as national
director for combating terrorism and Richard Clarke was named special
White House advisor for cyberspace security. 

For several years, Mr Clarke has been warning of the possibility of a
devastating computer-based attack on the United States. 

Some experts are sceptical of such claims, but what they do not dispute
is that both the government and the private sector need to renew their
efforts to make cyberspace more secure. 

Electronic Pearl Harbour

Richard Clarke has long been involved in counter-terrorism and
cyber-security.  Most recently he served as national coordinator for
security, infrastructure protection and counter-terrorism on the
National Security Council. 

Richard Clarke said the US faced a "very, very smart foe"

"America built cyberspace, and now it must defend cyberspace," Mr Clarke
said in accepting his new position. 

For years, he has been warning of what some refer to as Electronic Pearl
Harbour - a computer-based attack that would cause massive amounts of
destruction and loss of life. 

In a worst-case scenario, such an attack would target power
distribution, financial services, emergency call services and air
traffic control systems. 

"We as a country are now dependent upon information technology and the
networks that we have built," Mr Clarke said in an address last year to
technology executives. 

It is this dependence that leads some to believe that terrorists could
target the computer systems and wreak havoc on the United States. 

And the hijackers who took part in the attacks on 11 September are
believed to have used the internet to communicate, often logging on at
terminals in public libraries and copy shops making their online
activities difficult to track. 

Officials say some hackers are trying to download military and national
security secrets, and the US Department of Defence computer systems have
suffered from many of the same viruses that have plagued corporate and
personal computer systems. 

Bombs still the main threat

Security expert Richard Forno said "Clarke is one of the few folks in
the government who has a clue about the issue" of computer security. 

SIDEBAR "It is much more effective to see a smoking crater where the
World Trade Centre towers used to be than to see a darkened computer
screen.  - Computer security expert Richard Forno"

Mr Forno developed the first information security programme for the US
House of Representatives and served as chief information security
officer for Network Solutions.  He is now Chief Technology Officer for
the security firm ShadowLogic. 

He is sceptical of the idea of such a dramatic kind of cyber-attack
envisioned in Electronic Pearl Harbour scenarios.  As many terrorism
experts say, bombs are better than bytes. 

"It is much more effective to see a smoking crater where the World Trade
Centre towers used to be than to see a darkened computer screen.  Osama
bin Laden is not going to say, 'Allah be praised, we crashed the
NASDAQ'," Mr Forno said. 

Cyber attacks are more of a nuisance than viable terrorist tactics he
says, saying that he doesn't consider someone hacking Amazon or eBay to
be an act of cyber terrorism. 

Battle plan

But he does see threats to critical computer systems, and to be
effective in combating these threats, he says that Mr Clarke needs to
have the authority to be effective. 

SIDEBAR: "My first reaction to the Office of Homeland Security is that
it is a typical government reaction.  It will create bureaucracy and
jobs without necessarily being effective.  Richard Forno"

He also says that the government needs to respond to specific threats
and not simply give in to knee-jerk reactions, such as the calls by some
in Congress the day after the attacks to limit encryption. 

The government also needs to assess what types of operating systems
their critical systems use and assess the security of those systems. 

And to create effective information security policy, he said, there
should be talks with chief technology officers and systems
administrators who deal with computer security on an ongoing basis. 

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