Critical-infrastructure security was the main topic at the recent annual meeting of the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, known as (ISC)�. The consortium is a nonprofit agency dedicated to training and certifying security professionals. At this year's meeting, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., chairman of the House subcommittee on technology, delivered a keynote speech on critical security issues. In the days following the event, PC Magazine also caught up with Howard Schmidt, who is eBay's chief information security officer. Each man provided illuminating comments on both corporate and government security.

"For far too long, cyber security has taken a back seat to physical security, and this lack of attention to network security is our Achilles heel," Putnam said in his address. "The importance of securing our national networks should not be underestimated. An open but secure network is the key to a successful economy."

Schmidt echoed those thoughts. Before his eBay days, Schmidt was the chief security officer at Microsoft, and he served as chairman of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, which developed and introduced the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. "We have people in the government who still do not believe that electronic security is as important an issue as it is in the physical world," Schmidt said. "There are cyber terrorist threats that could be devastating to our economy. For example, look at the SQL Slammer problem that arose in January. There were issues where ATM machines couldn't talk to their home databases. If that had been more widespread and prolonged, it would have seriously disrupted people who are dependent on getting ATM cash."

source: Yahoo News