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Experts Not Happy With U.S. Cyber Security

by Terrence O'Brien on May 1, 2009 at 11:07 AM

It's no secret that the state of U.S. cyber security is pretty sad. But experts have stepped up their rhetoric recently and started hurling words like, "broken," "child-like," and "embarrassing" at U.S. security infrastructure.

People like Tim Mather (RSA), Alan Paller (SANS Institute), and Benjamin Jun (Vice-President of Technology at Cryptography Research), told the BBC that the U.S. is at a crossroads when it comes to cyber security. Ken Silva (VeriSign) even said that our standard system of usernames and passwords has "been obsolete for some time now."

Experts do see a silver lining, though. With so much focus on security, they are confident that innovation is just around the corner, especially now that the government is taking the threat much more seriously. President Obama is expected to create a position for a cyber security tsar to help manage and oversee the development of an effective online security program. Such a program may include drastic security measures, like being able to completely isolate government computers from the Internet in times of emergency.

For the time being, it's important not to fall into a state of panic. As Mark Cohn, VP of Enterprise Security at Unisys, told the BBC, reaching this crossroads should be viewed as "a healthy thing." [From: BBC, Via: Fark]

Tags: cyber security, CyberSecurity, government, security, top

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