Opinion: December 2008 Archives

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A recent report by the Lexington Institute concludes that digital networks are the nervous system of our civilization, essential to commerce and culture. The entire economy, from banking to utilities to manufacturing to healthcare, relies on internet-style communications. Even the military has reorganized for what it calls "network-centric warfare."

But the internet empowers everybody, including criminals and foreign governments intent on weakening America. As digital networks have proliferated, so has malicious software designed to exploit the networks for destructive purposes. Internet predators are increasingly capable and sophisticated.

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U.S. not ready for cyber attack

Deja Vu all over again ...

After completing a recent cybersecurity exercise government and industry experts conclude the United States is unprepared for a major hostile attack against vital computer networks. READ MORE

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) have issued the Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism 2008 report.

This report, the sixth annual edition, finds that on some levels, significant progress has been made in the nation's preparedness. However, this year, TFAH found that cuts in federal funding for state and local preparedness since 2005, coupled with the cuts states are making to their budgets in response to the economic crisis, put that progress at risk.  READ MORE

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The Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency has released its final report, "Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency." The Commission's three major findings are:
> cybersecurity is now one of the major national security problems facing the United States;
> decisions and actions must respect American values related to privacy and civil liberties; and
> only a comprehensive national security strategy that embraces both the domestic and international aspects of cybersecurity will improve the situation.
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In July 2008 Terry Childs, a network engineer in San Francisco's city-county government, was arrested for seizing control of the fiber network, locking out co-workers and denying officials the passwords to get back in.  Although most of the dust has settled, San Francisco's Department of Information Technology still has a pile of digital debris that it is shifting through. Apparently disgruntled network administrator Terry Childs left a networking device hidden on the city FiberWAN network that, as of this writing, IT staff are still trying to locate -- months following Childs' arrest. 

The ability of Childs to single-handily hold the San Francisco system hostage raises many questions about how to manage operations in complex public and private systems. READ MORE

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries in the Opinion category from December 2008.

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