Chris Martinelli

WHITE HOUSE DRIVES SAFETY PLAN FOR SUPERHIGHWAY

By: Gary H. Anthes

Acknowledging that weakness in the emerging National Information

Infrastructure (NII) could jeopardize public safety and economic well being, the

White House has unveiled a plan to improve both network security and the legal

framework that governs the use and misuse of information technology. The

federal government has been criticized recently for doing too little to ensure the

safety of the nation's information systems. But in a report entitled, NII Security:

the Federal Role, the interagency Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF) calls

for a broad array of initiatives designed to do just that.

The NII is seen by some as the next-generation Internet, a high-capacity

digital internetwork offering two-way communications in data, audio, and video

to multiple audiences. The current administration sees it as a way to revitalize

education, health care, manufacturing, government, and commerce.

Among the IITF’s twenty-five proposed actions, many of which are already
under way, are the following.

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 Chris Martinelli

Develop and make publicly available a database of threats to information stored

on corporate networks.
Compile a list of security technologies used by the government, including those
now classified; evaluate them for possible use in the private sector; and make
them available to the public.
Work with the industry to develop alternatives to the government-sponsored
Clipper encryption key escrow, and develop a national infrastructure for
managing public encryption keys.
Write a regulation that would allow individuals to use encryption methods now
barred from export overseas.
Extend the role of the National Communication System, which sets Procedures for
the survival of the public switched network in emergencies, to include the NII.
Examine whether the current bank regulations are adequate for electronic banking
and commerce.

Punishment Fits the Crime

The IITF said that it also would propose legislation to strengthen

prosecution of computer-related crimes. Independently, Senators Jon Kyl (R-Az.)

and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced The NII Protection Act, which would make it

illegal to view unauthorized information on a computer. Current law punishes

only those who inflict damage.

Robert Steele, president of Open Source Solutions, Inc. in Oakton, VA, a

non-profit foundation that has berated the government for its lack of a national

information security policy, called the report a "superb and clear-cut" plan of

action and a "balanced representation of often conflicting points of view."

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