Sprint to Require Security Tests on Vendors' Software

Computerworld - NEW YORK -- Sprint Corp. is crafting a policy that will require all software vendors that want to sell their wares to the telecommunications company to first conduct a series of security tests on the products.
That's the word from Sprint's chief security officer, Robert Fox, who spoke last week at the Infosecurity 2002 show here.
"We're working on a new policy for software vendors that will say, 'Before you deliver your software to Sprint, you need to run certain tests and tell us the results,' " said Fox. "There are holes in Microsoft you can shoot a cannon through. It's only fair that they tell us."
Fox didn't elaborate on the types of tests Sprint will require.
Analysts said that other industries, such as banking and finance, have long required software vendors to meet a set of common security criteria for equipment configuration and, in some cases, operating system configuration. But the Sprint policy would mark the first time that a major telecommunications company would require such testing for all software purchases.
If the Sprint policy takes hold, it would put "the telecommunications [sector] ahead of the curve in adopting a very good practice," said John Pescatore, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc.
"If enterprises are willing to buy flimsy software, vendors will sell them the flimsiest software," he said. But "if [companies] vote with their pocketbooks for more secure software, vendors follow."
So far, however, Sprint, which has operations in 18 states, stands alone in the telecommunications industry in even expressing a willingness to develop such a policy.
Other service providers contacted by Computerworld last week, including AT&T Corp. and Qwest Communications International Inc., said they have no such policy in place and no plans to develop one.
Although Sprint may be the first telecommunications company to get tough with the software industry on security matters, Fox said, it would be preferable if the government took more of a lead in demanding better security in software products.
"I don't think the private sector knows how to [talk tough to the software industry] yet," he said. Today, most companies make requests for improved security on an individual basis with their vendors, Fox said. As a result, the private sector isn't speaking with one voice.
The government, however, is beginning to do so. Starting July 1, all software companies that want to sell their products to the U.S. Department of Defense will need to have their products' security claims validated by a third party.
"Wait until the day whenthe government gets a handle on its own technical security," said Fox. "Then they're going to say, 'We're doing it, so you have to do it, too.' "

Read more about security in Computerworld's Security Knowledge Center.