| Page 2 of 2 < Back |
A Year Later
Since the attacks, there has been a heightened awareness about the vulnerability of the nation's critical infrastructure and the potential for terrorists to attack the Internet or use it as a weapon. In just hours after the attacks, hoax e-mails started spreading on the Internet warning people to avoid shopping malls and other locations that the e-mails said were targets for attacks. Even though the federal government heightened security levels, some computer experts said they do not expect today to produce significant cyberattacks tied to the Sept. 11 anniversary. "I have no sense at all that there will be a special cyber event" related to the attacks anniversary, Alan Paller, research director at the System Administration, Networking and Security Institute told Reuters. But there were still some e-mail viruses that have used Sept. 11 to try and lure Internet users and damage files.
• Reuters: Attack Anniversary Cyberthreats Unfounded - Experts
• BBC: E-mail Virus Exploits September 11
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
With an overall heightened awareness of cybersecurity threats, technologists are shifting efforts from building applications for sharing information to putting tighter controls on security. "Before the World Trade Center attack a year ago, the technology arena was focused largely on making it easier to share information over networks for "anytime, anywhere" communication via a variety of devices," writes Paul Andrews in a column in yesterday's Seattle Times. "Since Sept.11, however, sharing has taken a distant back seat to securing. And momentum toward providing all those convenient services has faltered."
• The Seattle Times: Net Security Officers Going Nowhere Fast
• The Australian IT: Internet Freedom Another Victim
It's debatable, however, how much money is being spent on information security since companies have less money to spend in the downturn. "Money to buy the technology is an important starting point," Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, told The Chicago Tribune. "But you also need to focus on the people and the processes. [Precautions] should become routine, the same way a commercial building's security is routine. … We're not there yet with information security. There are still too many vulnerabilities."
• The Chicago Tribune: Caution is Watchword in Security Spending (Free registration required)
• The New York Times: Year After 9-11, Cyberspace Door is Still Ajar (Free registration required)
In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, many IT firms reshuffled their business lines in expectation of helping fill homeland security orders from the government. "Our approach is that there are an awful lot of commercial applications that can be re-purposed for homeland security needs," William Purdy, president and chief operating officer of Fairfax, Va.-based American Management Systems, told Washington Techway magazine. With hope in profits from homeland security efforts aside, the U.S. economy and tech sector have still not rebounded a year later. "The attacks were a man-made disaster, not a natural one. And the effects on the U.S. and global economy are profound and likely to be very long-lasting," writes James Flanigan in the Los Angeles Times.
• Washington Techway: One Year Later
• The Los Angeles Times: Effects of Sept. 11 on Economy Likely to Prove Long-Lasting (Free registration required)
• The Financial Times: Heroic U.S. Economy Had Already Been Wounded
BBC Online reports that some pro-Islamic groups have been conducting cyberattacks on various U.S.-owned sites, including parts of the America Time Warner network.
• BBC Online: Conflict against Iraq begins online