Trouble spied in cyber-security plan
TEXT OF STORY
Doug Krizner: Within days, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to finalize plans for a domestic satellite surveillance program. Some in Congress are concerned about privacy. There’s also concern about another government initiative — a multibillion-dollar cyber-security plan. Jeremy Hobson has more from Washington.
Jeremy Hobson: The government has been the target of recent high-profile hacking, and the new plan aims to safeguard against cyber attacks not just by individuals, but by other governments.
Sami Saydjari runs the Cyber Defense Agency, a private consulting firm:
Sami Saydjari: Even with the hundreds of millions of dollars that we’re spending, the level of strategic vulnerability is going up, because we are increasing our dependency on the networks faster than we are developing the technology to protect them.
James Lewis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies agrees, and he says rolling out the new plan has been tricky because of recent concerns about government spying.
James Lewis: There’s just an atmosphere of distrust now. You can’t blame people.
Lewis says the new U.S. plan will deal initially with protecting government infrastructure, leaving the private sector to fend largely for itself. He says that’s a task some institutions, like banks, are better prepared for than others.
In Washington, I’m Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.
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