"DOD leaders mull Internet disconnect"
Source: Federal Computer Week, 4/19/99 -
<http://www.fcw.com:80/pubs/fcw/1999/0419/fcw-newsdod-4-19-99.html>
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>Hammered by relentless hacker attacks against its unclassified network for
>years, the Defense Department may back away from using the Internet, >which
it invented, in favor of relying on intranet enclaves, according to a top
>Army official.
This tale of DoD reconsidering it's promiscuous Internet connections
(about time!), as well as the amount of information published on DoD's
public websites, is interesting. I was more intrigued, however, by a gem
buried at the end of the story which referred to a prominent DoD officials
view of corporate extranet connections that might deserve some attention.
To wit:
> [John Hamre, deputy secretary of Defense] believes that vendors'
>e-commerce practices present a scenario ripe for exploitation.
>"The best way to attack the U.S. is to become someone's customer," he
>said. "They'll give you the software" to enter sensitive systems, with few
>checks and balances imposed on the distribution or use of that software.
Even strong authentication (of users, not VPN terminals), and
appropriate logs and standard audit practices, in sum, guarrantee little
more than accountability. And accountability-- while useful and necessary
-- is not sufficient to control all potential attackers. Score one for Mr.
Hamre.
Brings to mind Whitfield Diffie's warning that the m0st effective
way to use infowar techniques is probably to attack a single company.
Suerte,
_Vin
--------
"Cryptography is like literacy in the Dark Ages. Infinitely potent,
for good and ill... yet basically an intellectual construct, an idea,
which by its nature will resist efforts to restrict it to bureaucrats
and others who deem only themselves worthy of such Privilege."
_A Thinking Man's Creed for Crypto _vbm
* Vin McLellan + The Privacy Guild + <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *
53 Nichols St., Chelsea, MA 02150 USA <617> 884-5548
