President Asks for Cyber Security Funds
Dateline: 02/15/2000
President Clinton today backed a $9 million plan to create a new cyber security institute to improve Internet security without limiting the growth potential of E-commerce.
"We know we have to keep cyberspace open and free," stated the President. "At the same time, computer networks must be made more secure and resilient and we have to do more to protect privacy and civil liberties."
The President's proposed 2001 Federal Budget already includes proposed expenditures of $2 billion for programs to bolster Internet security and privacy.
Today's proposal is in response to last weeks hacker attacks that temporarily shutdown major Web sites including Yahoo, eBay, CNN and E*Trade to legitimate visitors. [Updates on FBI investigation]
Clinton's statements came after a White House summit meeting today on the problem. Participants included Charles Wang, chairman of Computer Associates International Inc.; Howard Schmidt, chief information security officer at Microsoft Corp.; Harris Miller, head of the Information Technology Association of America; and a hacker called "Mudge," vice president of @Stake, a "hacker think tank" specializing in Internet security. [CNN story on "Mudge"]
Prior to the summit meeting, the President held a press conference where he stated, "These denial of service attacks obviously are very disturbing and I think there is a way that we can clearly promote security."
When asked if last week's Web site attacks were analogous to Pearl Harbor, the President said they were not and urged consumers not to panic by concluding, "We'll figure out how to do it, and go forward."
Reference Resources
More on 'Mudge'
Learn about America's leading "gray-hat hacker" according to his dossier at @Stake, where he is VP of R&D.National Infrastructure Protection Center
The agency responsible for tracking the hackers. Also see...
TRINOO/Tribal Flood Net/TFN2K for a very technical description of how the attacks were done.
Also on US Government Info/Resources |
Web Attackers vs. the FBI
Keep up with the FBI's investigation. (Two suspects were identified today.)
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On Other About.com GuideSites |
It's a Dot Com World:
Hacking the Web's Top Sites
Guide to Alternative Media, Penny Perkins takes a detailed analysis of the hack attacks.Massive DoS Attacks Strike Internet
Internet Security Guide, Jay Williams covers the story from the point of view of somebody who's "been there, done that."
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