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Copyright 2002 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Suggested citation: Computer Science and Telecommunications Board, Cybersecurity Today and Tomorrow: Pay Now or Pay Later, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2002.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
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Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
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COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
DAVID D. CLARK,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Chair
DAVID BORTH,
Motorola Labs
JAMES CHIDDIX,
AOL Time Warner
JOHN M. CIOFFI,
Stanford University
ELAINE COHEN,
University of Utah
W. BRUCE CROFT,
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
THOMAS E. DARCIE,
AT&T Labs Research
JOSEPH FARRELL,
University of California at Berkeley
JEFFREY M. JAFFE,
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies
ANNA KARLIN,
University of Washington
BUTLER W. LAMPSON,
Microsoft Corporation
EDWARD D. LAZOWSKA,
University of Washington
DAVID LIDDLE,
U.S. Venture Partners
TOM M. MITCHELL,
Carnegie Mellon University
DONALD NORMAN,
Nielsen Norman Group
DAVID A. PATTERSON,
University of California at Berkeley
HENRY (HANK) PERRITT,
Chicago-Kent College of Law
BURTON SMITH,
Cray Inc.
TERRY SMITH,
University of California at Santa Barbara
LEE SPROULL,
New York University
JEANNETTE M. WING,
Carnegie Mellon University
MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Director
HERBERT S. LIN, Senior Scientist
ALAN S. INOUYE, Senior Program Officer
JON EISENBERG, Senior Program Officer
LYNETTE I. MILLETT, Program Officer
CYNTHIA PATTERSON, Program Officer
STEVEN WOO, Program Officer
DAVID PADGHAM, Research Associate
JANET BRISCOE, Administrative Officer
MARGARET HUYNH, Senior Project Assistant
DAVID DRAKE, Senior Project Assistant
JANICE SABUDA, Senior Project Assistant
JENNIFER BISHOP, Senior Project Assistant
BRANDYE WILLIAMS, Staff Assistant
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Preface
Starting with the publication of the report Computers at Risk: Safe Computing in the Information Age in 1991 (National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.), the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) has examined the issue of computer and communications security a number of times, from a number of perspectives. While there has been progress in security, it is a sad commentary on the state of the world that what CSTB wrote more than 10 years ago is still timely and relevant. For those who work in computer security, there is a deep frustration that research and recommendations do not seem to translate easily into deployment and utilization.
The events of September 11, 2001, suggest—indeed demand—that we take a renewed look at the security and robustness of our nation’s infrastructure. Now, if ever, we see the importance of having critical systems resistant to attack and serviceable in times of crisis. From our telephone system to air traffic control to the Internet, we will be greatly harmed if these systems fail us just when we need them most.
The vulnerabilities are not new, only freshly brought into focus. And the approaches that will mitigate these threats are not unknown, only underutilized. So CSTB has taken the approach of drawing on its past work to point out that much of what we need to do is available to us now, if only we choose to act.
The staff of the CSTB have assembled this report from the broad base of its existing reports. Herb Lin deserves special thanks for the effort necessary to produce this report quickly.
David D. Clark, Chair
Computer Science and
Telecommunications Board
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:
Steven Bellovin, AT&T Labs Research,
Thomas Berson, Anagram Laboratories,
John Davis, Mitretek Systems Inc.,
Carl Landwehr, National Science Foundation,
Fred Schneider, Cornell University, and
Willis Ware, RAND Corporation.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Gerry Dinneen. Appointed by the NRC’s Report Review Committee, he was
responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and the National Research Council.