[iwar] [fc:America.under.cyber.attack:.Post.Sept..11,.companies.must.focus.on.'survivability']

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-11-14 19:48:38
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Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 19:48:38 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:America.under.cyber.attack:.Post.Sept..11,.companies.must.focus.on.'survivability']
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America under cyber attack: Post Sept. 11, companies must focus on 'survivability'

Becca Mader, Business Journal, 11/14/2001
<a href="http://milwaukee.bcentral.com/milwaukee/stories/2001/11/12/focus2.html">http://milwaukee.bcentral.com/milwaukee/stories/2001/11/12/focus2.html> 

As the World Wide Web continues to develop as a business tool, so does
the vulnerability of companies to cyber attacks, as evidenced by a new
survey showing that since last year the number of Web attacks has nearly
doubled. 
Nearly 90 percent of organizations have been hit by viruses, worms and
other infections, according to a survey conducted by Information
Security magazine. 
"The only secure system is one where the power's off," said David
Woodall, chief information officer of CXO Media, Framingham, Mass.,
which publishes CIO Magazine. 
Executives also need to think beyond security and focus on
survivability, especially in light of Sept. 11, said Larry Rogers,
senior member of the technical staff at the CERT Coordination Center, a
part of the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh that provides Internet security research and information. 
The primary challenge for chief information officers and information
services managers is "having an understanding of what risks they are
actually facing," said Andy Reeder, senior manager with the information
security practice at the Chicago office of Deloitte &amp; Touche. 
Understanding such risks can help companies develop an effective
survival plan, which involves both business continuity and disaster
recovery, said Clint Laskowski, manager of information security and a
lead consultant for Divine Inc., a Chicago-based computer consulting
firm that has an office in Milwaukee. 
Business continuity deals with the immediate response of locating
employees and determining the necessary steps to start up their computer
systems and networks again. Disaster recovery deals with the actual
information technology side of storage, backup and network solutions. 
The new challenge in creating such plans is addressing recent
developments such as terrorism on American soil, Laskowski said. 
"In the past, most business continuity plans didn't even address things
such as war or terrorist attacks," he said. "Now almost every magazine
devoted to that topic is talking about civil unrest and terrorist
activities." 
RECOGNIZING RISKS 
It's integral to continuity plans to recognize risks and how they will
affect the company. 
The next step is to identify what kind of information security solutions
can be implemented, such as back-up or storage systems, and how
companies will respond. 
Laskowski said many companies do not have updated plans. While
information security and continuity plans have always been a priority,
most companies don't update them as often as they should, he said. 
"With business changing as rapidly as it does, you've got to believe
these things are fluid," said Mark Miller, managing director at national
insurance brokerage Marsh USA Inc.'s Milwaukee office. "Business
continuity planning isn't something you put on the shelf and review four
years later." 
Companies such as Divine and PCC's Computer Services Group in Germantown
help shore up plans and increase a company's survivability. 
PCC provides systems integration, storage systems and security hardware
and software. But "since Sept. 11, there has been more interest in the
big picture," such as developing recovery plans, said Pete Francois,
senior systems engineer at PCC. 
PCC uses a six-step process to develop a continuity plan. Consultants
visit the company and examine the business operations and support
services to determine the scope of the plan. They then conduct a
business impact assessment to determine the company's time-critical
business processes. They also help with the development of a recovery
plan, the implementation and testing of the plan, and the maintenance
and quality control of the procedures. 
Marsh USA encourages companies to have risk management or continuity
plans in place should physical or cyber attacks occur. On Sept. 11,
Marsh executives fully understood the importance of having their own
plan. Marsh's technology department, which serves as a national resource
for Marsh's different offices, was located in the north tower of the
World Trade Center. After it was hit, all e-mail and technological
capabilities were lost. 
"Fortunately for us, we listened to what we preached and we were up in
48 hours," said Miller. 
BACKUP SERVER 
System information was stored and a backup server was in place at an
off-site location. Miller said a business continuance plan is ready for
Marsh's Milwaukee operations as well. 
Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay has a business continuity plan that
allows its computer systems and networks to be in working order anywhere
from 24 hours to 10 days, depending on the department, said Don Peters,
director of systems and operations. Associated also has random security
audits and tests of its systems to make sure they are up to speed. 
Since the terrorist attacks and since the NIMDA worm affected Web
servers by spreading infected e-mail messages in early September, there
has been a heightened awareness for recovery plans, and "people are
brushing off the dust and making sure they are revising their plans,"
said Mark Maurer, director of infrastructure planning and operations for
Divine Inc. 
Forming a cross-functional committee to implement a continuity plan is
important because additional perspectives help in the development
process, said Michael Sarner, e-business practice leader for Marsh in
Milwaukee. But some companies might also want to hire an outside firm to
make an assessment of procedures because often the "perspective can be
skewed because they are too close to the situation," Sarner said. 
Finding the money for increased security and back-up systems may prove
to be challenging because of the economy, but the loss of productivity
and nuisance involved -- and the influence of Sept. 11 -- have been
enough to give companies "more willingness to spend time and money on
security and disaster recovery efforts," Woodall said. 
To be sure, companies need to continue their vigilance toward possible
threats to their networks, both inside and outside their walls, experts
agree. Firewalls, intrusion detection networks, anti-virus software and
password security systems are being employed to lessen the likelihood
that they will suffer from internal attacks, external hackers or
malicious codes such as the Melissa virus or the NIMDA worm. 
"If companies just hope to limp along and do not take care or provide
regular maintenance on infrastructure and servers, they will run into
problems," said Kevin Kleinmann, practice manager for Internet services
at Interactive Business Systems, a Brookfield computer consulting firm.

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