Richard Clarke: Cybersecurity has a long way to go

There's no doubt that we've made progress against the bad guys in cyberspace, but security guru Richard Clarke told attendees yesterday at the Black Hat security conference that we still have a long way to before cyberspace is truly secure. Clarke was a member of the Senior Executive Service and the chief counter-terrorism advisor on the U.S. National Security Council for the latter part of the Clinton administration and the first part of Bush's administration, including the 9/11 attacks. He retired from the Bush administration in 1993. This continues to be a hot button issue for him because the Pentagon is developing more technologically sophisticated tools to use in the battlefield, which will require soldiers to enter the battlefield with multiple IP addresses, and cybersecurity will be paramount. The Pentagon is currently developing net-centric defense systems that will include exoskeleton armor with sensors that enable soldiers to see around corners as robots fly ahead and send back images to their visors, while monitoring their health through the same suit, he said. He lamented about the lack of authentication in cyberspace and noted that we still have no industry or academic standards to secure code. Clarke is encouraging the industry to support IPv6 "because it also offers opportunity for security and for prioritization"; he also thinks the government should play a larger role in supporting much of the work.

For more on Clarke's message from the conference:
- read this eWeek article