Controlling the Net: International Corporations Want Joint Industry-Government Cybersecurity Plan

A coalition of international corporations is requesting US government funding and intervention to "protect" the Internet. (PDF Report)

CBC covers the report from the "Business Roundtable" of 160 international corporations - including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun Microsystems, General Motors, Home Depot and Coca-Cola - representing $4.5 trillion in annual revenues, over 10 million employees and almost a third the total value of the U.S. stock market:

CBC: U.S. unprepared for Net meltdown

Without proper planning, myriad industries--from health care to transportation to financial services--could face devastation if a natural disaster, terrorist or hacker succeeded in disrupting Net access...

The report called for the government to take a number of actions:
• Set up a global advance-warning mechanism, akin to those broadcasted for natural disasters, for Internet disruptions
• Issue a policy that clearly defines the roles of business and government representatives in the event of disruptions
• Establish formal training programs for response to cyberdisasters
• Allot more federal funding for cybersecurity protection

"A massive cyberdisruption could have a cascading, long-term impact, without adequate coordination between government and the private sector," said Paul Kurtz, the alliance's executive director. "The stakes are too high for continued government inaction."

My questions:

* Is this about cybersecurity or control?

* Will increased cybersecurity protect the Internet for everyone? Or just secure control for international corporations?

* Is this another play to control the Net? And block ordinary people's access to information?





[edit on 13-7-2006 by soficrow]

Just found this:

Using biology to fight computer viruses: Can we use the immune system to protect machines?

Stephanie Forrest, a professor of computer science at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, ...argues that computer scientists could learn some powerful lessons from biology about how to develop security systems that can cope with this teeming software ecosystem. Forrest is a pioneer in computer immune system research, a field that aims to take the important attributes of biological immune systems and use them to enhance the protection of our computers.

* For a start, computer security could use some of the autonomy that biological systems possess. "Our computer systems don't work well enough to be trusted to run without human supervision," Forrest says. "Biological systems do this routinely."
* Second, online security lacks the kind of adaptability and self-repair that are a hallmark of functioning immune systems.
* Adaptability is all the more important given that security systems could soon be facing threats that undergo their own kind of evolution. "In today's Internet, it is well-known how to launch attacks that are self-replicating and can spread on their own," Forrest says. "It seems to me that the only missing ingredient of an open-ended evolutionary process is a well-crafted form of automated mutation."
* On that note, another attribute lacking in computer security is diversity.

...the field of computer immune systems is flourishing worldwide, says Peter Bentley from University College London, who studies computation based on biological principles. "Stephanie Forrest was perhaps one of the first doing research into the immune system and computers," he says. "Since then the whole field has really grown."

...Sounds like more Terminator technology to me.

Control communication and you control the world.

- Pope Whatsisname



Looks like it working.

The US' 1996 Telecommunications Act has been re-written - and breaks all kinds of new ground. The bill is out of committee in both houses and may be passed this year.

How Washington will shape the Internet

The most potent force shaping the future of the Internet is neither Mountain View’s Googleplex nor the Microsoft campus in Redmond. It’s rather a small army of Gucci-shod lobbyists on Washington’s K Street and the powerful legislators whose favor they curry.

After years of benign neglect, the Federal government is finally involved in the Internet — big time. And the decisions being made over the next few months will impact not just the future of the Web, but that of mass media and consumer electronics as well.

...All of the major changes are encompassed in a single, sprawling bill that is called a “rewrite” of the 1996 Telecommunications Act but which in fact breaks all manner of new ground. At present the bill is out of committee in both houses but it’s not clear whether it will actually be passed this year; three weeks remain until summer recess and in September members may be more focused on elections than electrons. But sooner or later, Congress is going to lay down the law, and here’s a quick primer on some of the key issues:

Forgive me, please. An experiment to see if this shows up as an ATS new post.

Thank you and bump...

The INTERNET has become the most important place to gather and share information.

Corporate American wants their hands on that kind of proliferation of information.

They already owns the country and the government and occurs they will have the INTERNET one way or another.

Now about the biology way to fight viruses well . . . that sounds like a science fiction story to me.

But that doesn't mean it could not be possible.

Now if the government gets involve in the INTERNET the INTERNET will never be the same anymore.

Restrictions on freedom of speech controlling proliferation of information will be the end result of impose restrictions by government and all the groups that are interested in impose those restrictions.

What I find really interesting is that a coalition of international corporations and the US government are positioned to control world communications.



We're waiting on what? For the new US Telecommunications Bill to become law?


...I love the Net. I'd sure hate to see it even more censored. ...Gary MacKinnon is being extradited from the UK for "Internet crimes".

What's next? Will ATS be shut down and the owners sued for disseminating unsanctioned information?

About the Biology bit : Theres no way this will work , first off we need a 100% failsafe and secure OS.Seeing as this will probably never happen in the next 100 years theres nothing to be worried about.

As to getting the net secure, there is always going to be a "darkside" or undernet where people will express their thoughts etc . We have over 10 Billion web sites now on the net and growing , how can someone ever control that ? The only way would be to control all servers in the world which is impossible.

First off, Another great job soficrow

original quote by: soficrow
What's next? Will ATS be shut down and the owners sued for disseminating unsanctioned information?

I shudder to think of this day coming to fruition. But alas, it is only a stones throw away. War-Time(This war being the un-ending war called the WOT) has a horrible effect on civil liberties. More to the point, as was stated earlier, With the corporate/govt takeover of the Media, there is only one frontier left for them to "conquer", and that is the NET. I have taken the time to write my Representatives here in Florida about my conern. But, lets face it, Unless I pack about $50k with my letter, my voice will be left unheard. Money talks and Civil Liberties walk.

NOTE: This thread was written in 2006.

Looks to me like they've almost succeeded...

(Was looking for something else, found this.)