[iwar] [fc:Data.Security-The.Rules.Are.Changing]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-31 05:11:10
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 05:11:10 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Data.Security-The.Rules.Are.Changing]
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Data Security-The Rules Are Changing 
By Fred Moore, Computer Technology News, 10/30/2001
<a href="http://www.wwpi.com/lead_stories/10_25_01/moore.html">http://www.wwpi.com/lead_stories/10_25_01/moore.html>

The Sept.  11 Attack on America has greatly heightened our collective
awareness regarding terrorism and many related aspects of national
security.  The overall issue of security is instantly becoming the
foremost IT issue.  Physical damages from the attack range into the
trillions of dollars.  The early reports from Wall Street are most
encouraging and indicate that most customer and business critical data
appear to have been saved by robust, automated, and remotely located
data backup systems coupled with effective disaster prevention
strategies.  A lesson learned, or re-learned, is that critical data
should never be kept only on a local basis but should have
geographically separate copies. 

We typically describe the IT industry as a $2-3 trillion business
annually but do we have any idea of the value of the data that the IT
industry supports? Clearly the value of data far exceeds the value of
the supporting infrastructure.  The question of how valuable a given
businesses' data is has often been asked but is seldom answered.  Few if
any companies know the value of their data yet many are now realizing
that data has become their most critical asset and survival is based on
it.  For example, the true value of the data being generated from the
human genome research project is impossible to determine as its impact
is just beginning to take effect and won't fully manifest itself for
many years to come.  Also, the amount of information gathered about the
terrorists in just a few days after the Sept.  11 attack was amazing and
would not have been possible without the heavy role contributed by
computer systems.  IT will play a critical role in the world's quest for
safety and security from this day forward.  Therefore we must place a
greater emphasis on security, disaster recovery, and availability.  An
informal poll (published in Computerworld Sept.  24, Vol.  35),
indicated that 75% of the 700 plus respondents said they had no plans to
put IT projects on hold in the aftermath of the attacks.  Eleven percent
said that they would likely postpone some projects and 14% were
undecided.  The following areas of the IT industry could change and
accelerate as a result of the events of Sept.  11. 

Changes We Might See As A Result Of The Attacks

The remaining SSPs (Storage Service Providers) have a renewed
opportunity based on their original value proposition of remotely
outsourcing physical storage subsystems, particularly for hosting
geographically remote data vaults for backup and recovery.  Hot site and
disaster recovery strategies will get more attention.  Over 100 disaster
declarations were filed as a result of the Sept.  11 attack.  Backup is
important, recovery is mission critical, and the new value proposition
for companies offering backup/recovery solutions will differentiate them
on how quickly they can recover your IT operations to acceptable levels
of functionality.  Tape library suppliers (there are 17 at last count)
should aggressively develop and offer their disaster recovery and remote
data vault strategies.  This could mean partnering with backup and
recovery software companies and offering high-speed bandwidth access in
order to move data over distances greater than 10 kilometers.  The use
of physically removable media could increase as the capability
accelerates to move copies of data to new and safer locations without
dependency on the supply of readily available electricity.  The demand
for bandwidth could accelerate faster than current projections as
backup/recovery strategies become implemented more frequently.  The
abrupt reduction in air travel will increase the use of
videoconferencing and further add to bandwidth demands.  Fortunately,
there is an abundance of installed bandwidth.  The demand for more
highly effective backup solutions place further emphasis on mirroring,
snapshot, incremental, differential, forensic, and new methods that
minimize backup and recovery times.  SLAs (Service Level Agreements)
will take on new dimensions with emphasis on anticipated recovery times. 
The fight on cyber-crime must and will accelerate as the biggest
challenge for the continued evolution of the Internet is security,
though some may argue it is latency.  In 1990, the "Jerusalem" virus
took three years to become prevalent.  In 1999, the "Melissa" virus took
four days to become prevalent and did an estimated $385 million in
damages.  In 2000, the "I Love You" virus became prevalent worldwide in
just five hours and did over $700 million in damages.  The Internet is
the most widespread communications vehicle of all time and also can be
used to communicate both good and bad information globally in a few
hours.  Security providers targeting Internet virus detection and
prevention become even more critical to future success of the Internet
and will have to deliver a new generation of security solutions. 
Significant opportunities exist in eliminating the root cause of virus
creation.  The implementation of Wide-Area SANs should accelerate as
server-less backup and recovery capability over long distances now take
on a new meaning.  PC backup strategies will no longer be optional as
the value of data at the single-user system is significant.  The
position of Chief Security Officer will gain emphasis as companies
identify the staff and teams responsible for data security.  Key
recovery staff should attain certification through facilities such as
the Disaster Recovery Institute in Falls Church, VA.  Look for a new IT
security index to evolve and gain popularity, similar to the number of
nines (99.xxx) of availability that describes the level of security for
the IT operation within a company.  The biometric industry and its role
in security should get a significant boost.  Biometrics means life
measurement.  Much of the activity in biometrics is beginning to center
around security using automated methods to identify people based on
their behavioral traits or physical characteristics.  Face recognition,
fingerprints, hand geometry, iris scanning, voice recognition, retina
scanning, thermal face recognition, and handwriting analysis are the
most common types of biometric methods.  Thermal face recognition is
extremely difficult to fool, works under nearly any condition, and is
possibly the most expensive of today's biometric technologies.  The cost
of the technology to perform thermal face recognition is typically over
$50,000 compared to a $3000 cost for the camera to perform a retina scan
and $50 to $1,000 for finger scan technology.  The high expense of
biometric solutions has previously slowed its usage but the cost of not
using these techniques is now painfully obvious to the world.  Preparing
for the unthinkable is no longer an option for many businesses. 
Information Technology will contribute heavily in providing vastly
improved national and global security.  Though the price will be steep,
the long-term payback will be measured in terms of survival. 


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