Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Cybersecurity under threat
Everything (except the weather – and they’re working on it!) is controlled by computers these days. Nations depend on them to run power supplies, nuclear plants, defense systems, government, you name it. If your household is like mine, if your email goes down, you feel like your right arm is cut off. So how secure are the world’s computer systems?
Richard Clarke, a former White House cybersecurity czar, has bad news. During his tenure at the White House, Clarke was frequently criticized for his "sky-is-falling" attitude. Indeed, Clarke claims that the Sobig attack brought down a chunk of sky and that his warnings should have been taken more seriously. If current trends continue, Clarke told attendees at a major symposium this week, the cybersecurity situation isn't just going to get worse. It's going to get exponentially worse.
Noting that the conference's location (Disney World) might be appropriate because "only in fantasy land can everything you have be secure," Clark identified five trends that don't bode well for those trying to deal with cyber attacks.
Everything (except the weather – and they’re working on it!) is controlled by computers these days. Nations depend on them to run power supplies, nuclear plants, defense systems, government, you name it. If your household is like mine, if your email goes down, you feel like your right arm is cut off. So how secure are the world’s computer systems?
Richard Clarke, a former White House cybersecurity czar, has bad news. During his tenure at the White House, Clarke was frequently criticized for his "sky-is-falling" attitude. Indeed, Clarke claims that the Sobig attack brought down a chunk of sky and that his warnings should have been taken more seriously. If current trends continue, Clarke told attendees at a major symposium this week, the cybersecurity situation isn't just going to get worse. It's going to get exponentially worse.
Noting that the conference's location (Disney World) might be appropriate because "only in fantasy land can everything you have be secure," Clark identified five trends that don't bode well for those trying to deal with cyber attacks.
