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Press Release 1
August 9, 2000
Visa sets net security
measures
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Press Release 3
U.S. LAW ENFORCEMENT STYMIED
This new breed of international cyber criminals are aided by the fact that
the address-verification system used by merchants to compare billing and
delivery information in the United States is useless overseas.
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False sense of cyber security a costly problem for U.S.
June 20, 2000
8:39 a.m. EDT (1239 GMT)
The absence of a catastrophic cyber attack against the United States has created a false sense of cyber security and has allowed costly Cold War-era Pentagon programs to siphon money from critically needed information technology and security programs, a panel of experts warned last week.
The rapid advance of IT has created "real and potentially catastrophic vulnerabilities," Schumer said, adding that the consequences of a cyber terrorist attack "could be devastating."
Eye of the Beholder
However, senior security officials are battling a perception problem, according to experts who took part in the symposium. Without a clear-cut example of an "electronic Pearl Harbor," where a surprise cyber attack cripples financial markets and other critical systems, it's difficult to convince top military and political leaders that IT research and development should be a bigger priority in the budget process, experts say.
"Cyber terrorism is not an abstract concept," said Jeffrey Hunker, senior director for critical infrastructure protection at the National Security Council. Although attacks historically have been labeled as "nuisances," that may not be the correct way to look at the problem, Hunker said.
The government is dealing with an "enormous educational deficit" when it comes to IT security, he said.
Part of the problem is the fact that the Defense Department remains committed to lobbying Congress for money to pay for programs such as the F-22 Joint Strike Fighter instead of increasing funding for IT programs, said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow for foreign policy studies at The Brookings Institution. "I believe that is not affordable even in this age of surpluses," O'Hanlon said, adding that DOD's assumptions about future budget gains are "wrong." O'Hanlon advocated spending more money on advanced sensors, precision-guided weapons and other IT programs. That type of investment would preclude the need to buy costly systems such as the F-22, he said.
But even events such as the outbreak of the "love bug," which reportedly cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars, have not convinced people in and out of government that the problem is real, Schumer said. Usually, when a major crisis costs people a lot of money, it leads to many visits to Capitol Hill and requests for help, Schumer said. But that never happened after the love bug outbreak, he said.
Some experts have questioned the government's liberal use of the term terrorism to describe acts of mass disruption on the Internet. However, when asked about the seeming lack of interest in cyber attacks by well-known terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, a senior White House official said the focus should not be on what bin Laden does or does not do, but on being proactive and understanding that a major attack may be coming.
Hunker said he agrees. "We are attempting to be proactive," he said. "I believe that we are going to get nailed seriously." The National Security Agency is one of the federal entities that has taken a proactive approach toward security cooperation between government and industry.
But one of the biggest challenges facing the nation, highlighted during the love bug incident, remains convincing industry that security is as important as making money, said John Nagengast, assistant deputy director for information systems security at NSA.
Tuesday, June 20, 2000
Last year Internet-based transactions totaled more than $32 billion.
By
2003 this number is expected to surge to over $3.2 trillion worldwide.
For on-line merchants the Internet is fraught with risks.
Like mail and telephone order purchases credit card transactions over
the Internet are classified as "card-not-present." Retailers are liable for
fraudulent transactions — even when the credit card issuer has
authorized the purchase. Fraud not only causes loss of product and
revenue, it also leads to charge-back fees and jeopardizes a merchant's
discount rate and the merchant account itself.
Certain matters discussed
within this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although management
believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements
are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its
expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from expectations include industry, competitive and
technological changes; risks associated with international operations
and foreign currency fluctuations; the composition, timing, and size of
orders from and retainers with major customers; market acceptance of new
products and other risks detailed from time to time in reports.