Bathing Suit Season will be here before you know it. But National Computer Security Center Director John Davis defends the government's policy. You can't throw out the infrastructure that has set up the telephone system, the banking system, you'll never get all this done. Neumann's comments followed a Monday speech in which Defense Department Chief Information Officer Art Money said private and public sectors must work together closely to plug security holes in software and hardware now in use.
Industry needs to design in some protections.
His statements echoed administration policy, which hopes to wed government and industry in a partnership to improve existing networks through a combination of education, extensive auditing and research and development. But critics want the government to concentrate on new technologies that treat security as an inherent part of computer systems instead of an option. Bruce Schneier, a prominent security specialist who is also a finalist in a worldwide competition to design the world's most secure data encryption program, agreed. But we're not going to protect critical infrastructure going down this path. You just can't make those trade-offs.