Clarke advocates grass-roots action to protect critical IT

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Calling the Homeland Security Department 'incapable of doing anything to save the civilian IT infrastructure,' former cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke called on users and buyers to set security standards themselves. <br>

Calling the Homeland Security Department 'incapable of doing anything to save the civilian IT infrastructure,' former White House cybersecurity czar Richard Clarke today called on software users and buyers to set security standards themselves.

'You can't count on the government to defend critical networks,' Clarke said at the National Information Assurance Leadership Conference in Washington sponsored by the SANS Institute of Bethesda, Md.

'I thought it was impossible to put together five cybersecurity organizations [in DHS] and get less than the sum of their parts, but the agencies have played games,' Clarke said in a keynote speech. 'The Defense Department and FBI have held back billets or have nobody in them. The National Infrastructure Protection Center and National Communications System are less today than they were a year ago. DHS can't find anyone to fill the only full-time job in IT security.'

So far, vendors have done no better, he said. 'They won't stop thinking about their selfish interests and form a joint test bed for patches for all their applications,' which means network administrators must duplicate each other's efforts to test patches for safety and local compatibility.

He urged user groups, large enterprises, universities and organizations such as SANS to band together to build a national patch test bed and forge standards for software quality assurance. Outside auditors should verify that new software releases meet these standards, he said.

Finally, Clarke said, users need to 'smash the widget paradigm' of buying dozens of disparate firewall, antivirus, intrusion detection and access control products from multiple vendors, and then trying to get them to work 'all kludged together. Users need to demand defense-in-depth integration from the gateway to the network to the PC. Users need to start smashing pumpkins.'

At the conference, SANS presented leadership awards for operating system and network security to:

  • Dell Inc., for the 'baked-in security' of its Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional systems, which arrive with vulnerable features turned off


  • OpenBSD, for effective OS security testing


  • Microsoft Corp., for automating security patching of Windows XP


  • MCI, for effective defense against distributed denial-of-service attacks and rapid action to stop Internet worm damage.
  • X
    This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Accept Cookies
    X
    Cookie Preferences Cookie List

    Do Not Sell My Personal Information

    When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

    Allow All Cookies

    Manage Consent Preferences

    Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

    We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

    Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

    Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

    If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

    Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

    Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

    If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

    Save Settings
    Cookie Preferences Cookie List

    Cookie List

    A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

    Functional Cookies

    We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

    Performance Cookies

    We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

    Sale of Personal Data

    We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

    Social Media Cookies

    We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

    Targeting Cookies

    We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.