Sen. Bob Bennett, fresh off a successful campaign to educate government and the populace about the dangers of the Y2K computer bug, has now launched another and just as serious mission to prevent cyber attacks.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott has asked the Utah Republican to head a GOP High-Tech Task Force to coordinate efforts to fight this relatively new, but extremely dangerous, menace. Bennett believes the next world war may not be fought with tanks and missiles but by enemy hackers attacking the nation's computers and bringing everything from utilities to commerce to a standstill.
His warnings and concerns played a significant role in getting national, state and local government agencies and major corporations to take the Y2K threat seriously. Those efforts worked so well they may have led some people to believe computer threats are mostly meaningless hype. It would be unfortunate to underestimate the havoc a cyber terrorist could cause.
The senator is right when he says that the United States is the most vulnerable country in the world to this kind of attack. America has the most advanced computer capabilities.
While individual hackers can cause some difficulties, those problems are not serious enough to bring the economy to a standstill. The major challenge, Bennett believes, would occur if a foreign state were to develop the resources for a concentrated, continuing and sophisticated cyber attack over a long period of time.
And just as he did during the Y2K crisis, Bennett is recommending preventative action. But, as Bennett notes, government and business are not structured well enough to prevent cyber attack threats.
That's where Bennett and his expertise are needed. Various Senate committees have some oversight of cyber-threats, including Judiciary, Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Governmental Affairs, Commerce and Banking. However, their efforts need to be coordinated to avoid needless duplication in some areas and a complete lack of attention in others. Whatever turf wars there are need to be suspended.
About two years ago congressional investigators from the General Accounting Office conducted a mock attack on the State Department's computer systems. The results were quite embarrassing. The test showed the State Department's "computer systems and the information contained within are very susceptible to hackers, terrorists and or other unauthorized individuals seeking to damage State operations or reap financial gain by exploiting the department's information security weaknesses," the GAO reported.
Given that backdrop, Bennett's warnings and participation are welcome.