A glitch in information sharing

Government chief information security officers recently told an industry conference that sharing information is not without its problems and can open up a new path for corruption of the system. Patrick Howard, CISO for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said that computer companies may be inviting more attacks through the use of applications, especially web applications. He spoke at a conference sponsored by the Information Technology Association of America.

"Applications give a ready avenue to our data," Howard said. He added that in the rush to make information available, holes are sometimes built in, which aren't caught due to inadequate testing. Joe Gerrity, CISO for the Security and Exchange Commission, said that the increasing need to share information electronically has created additional security issues. "The need to know has shifted to the need to share," Gerrity said. "We tend to trust everyone on the inside and no one on the outside."

For more on this security issue:
- see Technology Daily article