Cyber Security Industry Alliance Releases National Agenda for Government Action on Information Security
December 13 2005 - 9:45AM
PR Newswire (US)
Review of the State of Information Security in 2005 and New Digital
Confidence Index Demonstrate Need for Increased Government
Leadership ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cyber
Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the only advocacy group
dedicated to ensuring the privacy, reliability and integrity of
information systems, today called on the federal government to
assert greater leadership in the protection of our information
infrastructure in 2006. Its release of the "National Agenda for
Information Security in 2006" identifies 13 specific actions
required to improve information security for consumers, industry
and governments globally. As part of the Agenda, CSIA also provides
a report of the government's limited progress in information
security in 2005 and releases a new "Digital Confidence Index" that
reflects the public's lack of confidence in our nation's critical
infrastructure. "Over the past year, the government has taken
limited steps to improve the state of information security in our
country, such as increased Congressional leadership on issues of
spyware and identify theft, and the creation of a new Assistant
Secretary for Cyber Security and Telecommunications position within
the Department of Homeland Security," said Paul Kurtz, executive
director of CSIA. "However, this is simply not enough. Currently,
there is little strategic direction or leadership from the
executive branch in the area of information security. Ensuring the
resiliency and integrity of our information infrastructure and
protecting the privacy of our citizens should be higher on the
priority list for our government." Review of the State of
Information Security in the U.S. in 2005 One year ago, CSIA urged
the Administration and Congress to ensure follow- through on the
President's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace by acting on 12
critical recommendations to protect the nation against cyber
threats. The recommendations were made in three key areas: raising
the profile of cyber security; encouraging information sharing,
threat analysis and contingency; and improving education, research
and development. Today, CSIA graded the progress of federal
agencies on their follow-through on those 12 recommendations.
Overall, the Administration and Congress scored a grade of D or
below on 7 of the 12 recommendations and earned a grade of C on
four others. The government was commended for the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee recommendation that the Council of Europe's
Convention on Cybercrime be ratified by the U.S. Senate. For more
information on CSIA's Information Security Report, please visit:
http://www.csialliance.org/StateofCyberSecurity2006/Information_Security_Repor
t.PDF Launch of a New Digital Confidence Index To better understand
consumers' concerns regarding information security, CSIA today
announced its first Digital Confidence Index (DCI). Taken over
time, the DCI will allow CSIA to measure how economic, government
or natural events impact the confidence of Americans in the
networks that touch their lives. The index benchmarks the
confidence of U.S. citizens in the nation's information
infrastructure in six areas: finance, health data,
telecommunications, Internet, consumer data and power grids. The
research study found an underlying concern about the nation's
digital infrastructure, which is reflected in a DCI ranking of 58
on a 100-point scale. Americans are neither overly confident about
the security of their networks nor are they panicked. Rather, an
underlying anxiety reveals itself in the lack of willingness on the
part of respondents to shop online, with 48 percent of Internet
users reporting that they avoid making purchases on the Internet
because they are afraid their financial information may be
compromised. CSIA also found that while consumers certainly do not
believe information security should be the government's highest
priority, Americans are more than twice as likely to believe that
the government needs to make protecting our information systems and
networks a higher priority (65 percent) as they are to believe that
government is placing the right emphasis on this effort (29
percent). "A score of 58 on the DCI is less than a passing grade.
The effect of a loss of confidence in the networks Americans rely
on every day for business transactions, electricity, personal and
business communications and even health services will be felt over
time if not addressed," said James Lewis, Senior Fellow and
Director of the Technology and Public Policy Program for the Center
for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). More information on
the DCI and other research findings can be found at
https://www.csialliance.org/StateofCyberSecurity2006/National_Survey_121305.PD
F Pineda Consulting conducted the survey of 1,151 adults (margin of
error: 3 percent) in November 2005. A Government Call to Action for
2006 In its new "National Agenda for Information Security in 2006,"
CSIA calls on the Administration and Congress to implement the
following 13 recommendations to help improve the privacy,
reliability and integrity of information: Privacy & Security
for Consumers * Pass a national data breach notification bill *
Pass a national spyware protection bill Security & Resiliency
of Information Infrastructure * Ensure cyber security protection be
applied to healthcare infrastructure * Promote information security
governance in the private sector * Direct a federal agency to track
costs associated with cyber attacks * Secure Digital Control
Systems * Improve quality of software cyber security by
strengthening NIAP certification Federal Information Assurance
Initiatives * Fill new cyber security post in Department of
Homeland Security * Ratify the Council of Europe's Convention on
Cybercrime * Increase R&D funding for cyber security * Complete
HSPD-12 initiative for government-wide authentication * Ensure
continuity of government operations with telework * Include
information security planning in transition to IPv6 The full Agenda
can be found at
https://www.csialliance.org/StateofCyberSecurity2006/Information_Security_Repo
rt.PDF "The purpose of our National Agenda for Information Security
is not to dwell on past events or direct blame on any one
institution. Rather, we wanted to assess where we are today in
terms of protecting the integrity of the information infrastructure
so that we can determine which steps need to be taken to make
improvements," said Kurtz. "To that end, we urge the government to
take action on the 13 critical steps identified by the information
security industry that we believe will help to immediately
strengthen our information systems and begin to raise the
confidence of our citizens in our networks." About the Cyber
Security Industry Alliance CSIA is the only advocacy group
dedicated to ensuring the privacy, reliability and integrity of
information systems through public policy, technology, education
and awareness. The organization is led by CEOs from the world's top
security providers, who offer the technical expertise, depth and
focus to encourage a better understanding of security issues. It is
the belief of the CSIA that a comprehensive approach to ensuring
the security of information systems is fundamental to global
protection and economic stability. To learn more about the CSIA,
please visit our Web site at http://www.csialliance.org/ or call
+1-703-894-2742. Members of the CSIA include Application Security,
Inc.; BindView Corp. (NASDAQ:BVEW); Check Point Software
Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP); Citadel Security Software Inc.
(NASDAQ:CDSS); Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS); CA, Inc.
(NYSE:CA); Entrust, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTU); Internet Security Systems
Inc. (NASDAQ:ISSX); iPass Inc. (NASDAQ:IPAS); Juniper Networks,
Inc. (NASDAQ:JNPR); McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE); PGP Corporation;
Qualys, Inc.; RSA Security Inc. (NASDAQ:RSAS); Secure Computing
Corporation (NASDAQ:SCUR); Surety, Inc.; Symantec Corporation
(NASDAQ:SYMC); TechGuard Security, LLC; Visa International and
Vontu, Inc. DATASOURCE: Cyber Security Industry Alliance CONTACT:
Stacy Simpson of Merritt Group, Office: +1-703-390-1528, Mobile:
+1-703-926-1963, for CSIA Web site: http://www.csialliance.org/
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