September 25, 2001

2:22 PM

Silicon Valley backs Senate billthat would allow companies to report computer network attacks to the government without having to worry about the public finding out. The reasoning: it would encourage more companies to report the problems and help the government track down the culprits. A similar bill is in the House.
posted by thescoop (3 comments total)

This is a good thing. I think there should be a provision in there that would force companies that stored personal information such as credit card numbers to inform the ones whose privacy might have been breached. Too many hackers get away with attacks today. Feel free to tear apart my argument.
posted by geoff. at 3:36 PM on September 25, 2001

My bank could be the most insecure bank in the world and could have had countless successful attacks on its servers and I would never know. Business should fess up to its lack of security. Hiding information from customers is a nice way to get yourself into a class-action suit.
posted by skallas at 3:54 PM on September 25, 2001

1. In a darwinian sense, the ecosystem of networks and hackers will result in stronger, more secure networks. Eliminate the hackers (and crackers), and you end up in the situation we're in with infectious diseases and antibiotics. {I'm not saying crackers shouldn't be punished, in some fashion. Nor am I saying that businesses don't suffer real damage. But they should press harder against the makers of the insecure systems than they do against those who attmept to break into them}


2. Companies that market their services as secure should NOT be able to hide behind such a law. If Microsoft sells its Passport service, marketing it as "a secure repository of your personal information, under your control," then it damned well better be secure. If it is subject to malicious cracking, then MS should be REQUIRED to disclose that it is not secure, that it has been violated. IN OTHER WORDS, THIS LAW WOULD ALLOW COMPANIES TO ENGAGE IN FALSE ADVERTISING.
posted by yesster at 6:28 AM on September 26, 2001