[iwar] [fc:More.cybersecurity.study.'crucial']

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-13 01:55:26


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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 01:55:26 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:More.cybersecurity.study.'crucial']
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More cybersecurity study 'crucial'

By Greg Langlois, Federal Computer Week, 10/11/2001
<a href="http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/1008/web-cip-10-11-01.asp">http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/1008/web-cip-10-11-01.asp>

New research funds-and possibly a new way of thinking-are necessary to
meet an urgent need to secure computer networks supporting the nation's
critical infrastructure, said academic, industry and government
panelists at a congressional hearing Oct.  10. 

The number of academic researchers examining computer security is
dangerously low, and the federal government needs to provide more money
and focused support to change that, panelists told members of the House
Science Committee. 

William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering and a
professor at the University of Virginia, said he "was simply appalled"
at the state of security research since he returned to academia after 15
years in the commercial world.  Only 100 to 200 people are pursuing
serious security research, he said.  "Well-funded, long-term basic
research on computer security is crucial to our national security," Wulf
said. 

No federal funding agency, such as the National Science Foundation or
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has taken responsibility
for basic computer security research, he said.  Because no agency feels
it "owns" the problem, the government has funded only sporadic research
projects, he said. 

"No one has questioned the underlying assumptions on cybersecurity that
were established in the 1960s mainframe environment," he said.  One of
those assumptions he calls the "Maginot Line" model, after France's
famed defense that failed to stop Germany from making "an end run around
them" in World War II, he said.  Similarly, cyberspace attackers can
bypass firewalls, and "once inside, the entire system is compromised,"
he said. 

Eugene Spafford, director of Purdue University's Center for Education
and Research in Information Assurance and Security, said that after a
quick survey of 24 universities, he found that only 23 students involved
in cybersecurity research have earned doctorate degrees in the past
three years. 

"We cannot hope to protect our information infrastructure without a
sustained commitment to the conduct of research-both basic and applied
-and the development of new experts," Spafford said. 

Terry Vickers Benzel, vice president of advanced security research at
Network Associates Inc., said a cyberattack combined with another kind
of terrorist attack, such as on a water-treatment facility, could result
in a scenario that's "beyond frightening," she said.  Research and
development money needs to increase "dramatically," she said. 

"The threats are extreme and serious," Benzel said.  And with limited
research being conducted, "we don't really know how vulnerable we are."

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