Reno calls for partnership with industry on computer crime

Computerworld - HERNDON, VA. -- U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno this morning pleaded for a government/industry partnership on information security, but she then offered a number of reasons why she thinks companies may be cool to the idea.
Speaking to a group of 100 law enforcement officials and technology industry executives at the opening session of a cybercrime summit here, Reno said steps must be taken to improve security following a rash of denial-of-service attacks against federal agencies and corporations in February (see story) and the "I Love You" e-mail virus attack that infected computers around the world last month (see story).
"These are not trivial crimes," Reno said. She added that much worse cyberattacks against the nation's defense, financial and power infrastructures are possible, and she said government and industry must work much harder to prevent security breakdowns from happening.
Reno said she hoped participants at the one-day meeting would speak frankly about how federal law enforcement agencies could help fight technology crimes and about how government and industry could work together more productively. "I won't get angry, and my feelings won't be hurt, unless I walk out of here without specific suggestions," she said.
The attorney general urged companies to report cybercrimes to law enforcement officials, just as they would physical crimes such as burglary. But she said many companies don't do that because they fear that the government won't protect their confidentiality or that it will release embarrassing information to the public.
Reno also said companies are reluctant to report cybercrimes because they feel the government is either powerless to solve them or won't prosecute perpetrators vigorously. And she acknowledged that the rapid turnover in government personnel doesn't inspire confidence.
The summit, sponsored by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) and held at the Washington-area campus of Electronic Data Systems Corp., is the second industry/government meeting sponsored by the White House on information security. The first was held in April in Silicon Valley, and another is scheduled to be held in Washington in October.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, various government-based or government-funded Computer Emergency Response Teams and the FBI all have extensive collections of information on IT security for companies that are looking for guidance. Even the National Security Agency, contrary to popular belief, doesn't keep everything secret and offers advice on computer security.
At today's summit, the ITAA and EDS released the results of a recent survey of 1,000 people that they said showed that two-thirds of Americans feel threatened by or concerned aboutcomputer crime. Sixty-two percent of the respondents said not enough is being done about the problem, according to the two organizations.

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