Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management

    A Call to Arms to Build Supersecure Govnet

    By
    Eric Lundquist
    -
    October 15, 2001
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Most of what we do as a nation—our banking and finance, our electrical power, our telecommunications, our defense, our transportation systems—depend upon computers and computer-controlled systems. By definition, such systems are potentially vulnerable to destruction through new cracker tools and techniques.”

      A response to the info-war aspects of the World Trade Center attacks? No, the above quote came in a speech before the American Bar Association in 1998. But while the timing of the speech came years before the WTC attacks, the message and the person providing that message remain as current as this weeks news. Richard Clarke, the speaker before the bar association in 1998 and currently the head of U.S. cyberspace security, last week called on high-tech companies to help build a supersecure GovNet.

      The idea behind GovNet is to create a secure networking infrastructure independent of the Internet and impenetrable to the hackers, crackers and digital terrorists of our interconnected world. While Clarke has been issuing warnings of cyber-war since at least the Reagan administration, now is the time for people to pay attention.

      The last several years saw a huge amount of time, energy, intellect and money being poured into developing the Internet and business associated with the Net. By now, we know that many of those ideas were either too early, too far-fetched or too costly to become a real part of the economic fabric. But it would be a huge mistake to see that brainpower walk away from technology at this critical juncture in the nations history.

      Clarkes GovNet suggestion is a good example of where some intellectual capital should be expended. Do we really need another physical network? Or can we take all that unused fiber, new filtering technologies and hardened firewalls and build a subnetwork equal to the most diabolical cyber-hacker? My thought is that we surely can build as tough a network as we need with the tools at hand. But we need a forum where the technological issues and procedural questions can be addressed in a real hands-on atmosphere, rather than in an academic world where theoretical throat clearing can overtake common sense.

      That we need to protect our digital assets with the same fervor that we are protecting our physical infrastructure and preparing to defend ourselves from bio or chemical threats is a given. We live in a world of information systems, and we have come to rely on that information being timely, accurate and replaceable.

      Last week, Clarke was appointed special adviser to the president on cyberspace security. One of his first messages was a call to the high-tech community for help. The government, through its funding of the aerospace effort and defense projects, gave us the Internet upon which many of our companies are now building their businesses. It seems only fair to help our government in its time of need.

      Avatar
      Eric Lundquist
      Since 1996, Eric Lundquist has been Editor in Chief of eWEEK, which includes domestic, international and online editions. As eWEEK's EIC, Lundquist oversees a staff of nearly 40 editors, reporters and Labs analysts covering product, services and companies in the high-technology community. He is a frequent speaker at industry gatherings and user events and sits on numerous advisory boards. Eric writes the popular weekly column, 'Up Front,' and he is a confidant of eWEEK's Spencer F. Katt gossip columnist.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×