Hancock and Robert Holleyman, president and chief executive officer of the Business Software Alliance, also called for Congress to commit more law enforcement resources to fighting cybercrime. "Law enforcement is typically hampered due to a lack of tools, a lack of investment and a lack of skill sets," Hancock said.
Less than 10 virus or worm writers were arrested worldwide in 2002, while more than 200 viruses and worms were unleashed on the Internet, he noted.
The BSA's Holleyman called for Congress to push for international agreements to enforce cybercrime laws and create a "culture of security" worldwide. U.S. laws alone will not solve cybersecurity problems, because some countries will continue to harbor hackers and spammers, Hancock added.
Despite international agreements with some countries, hackers and spammers will continue to find places to operate if U.S. laws drive them offshore, Hancock said. Responding to a question about how a federal antispam law would limit the spread of viruses and worms through e-mail, Hancock said Romania has one cybercrime investigator. "This guy is grossly overwhelmed," Hancock said.
Representative Gene Green, a Texas Democrat, pushed his antispam legislation, the Anti-Spam Act of 2003, as a way to fight the spread of viruses and worms. "The combination of e-mail spam and viruses is like putting a SARS (Secure Acute Respiratory Syndrome) patient on every airline flight in the country," Green said.
Asked what motivated virus and worm writers, Hancock said many of them were dysfunctional people with limited social skills, but he predicted that cybercrime will be increasingly motivated by criminals with political or terrorist motives. Currently, virus trackers can see activity jump between 4 p.m. PST Fridays and 9 p.m. PST Sundays, as "every kid without a date starts picking on the network," Hancock added.
"I was hoping to start a site called GeekDate.com and try to get them some dates and leave us alone," Hancock said, prompting laughs from the audience.
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.
Download now »
Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts
This white paper provides guidance on how to develop a strategic approach to managing and monitoring logs, a key function required for compliance with many regulatory mandates and a critical defense against security threats.
Download now! »
Learn about the processes and technologies that support security information management (SIM) operations, as well as the business case for SIM. The series examines different options for implementing SIM and gives you evaluation criteria for selecting the best option for your organization.
Download now! »
Learn the strategies, actions, and capabilities that Best-in-Class organizations employ and technologies they choose to obtain superior performance against various security performance metrics. This report provides guidelines for identifying which security solutions to consume as a MSS and defines best practices for choosing and managing MSSPs.
Download now! »
Recommend This
