Re: New opportunities for NIST

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: huggins () airmail net

Start smashing fingers and breaking heads interesting point.  As most
who read ISN know I believe that we in corporate world and even more
ineffecient than those in government at least they are evaluated and
the reports submitted annually to congress and all the world to see.
Improvements have been made however, until a standard evaluation
process is developed the scores will fluctuate and failures will
continue.  I propose that the US no the UN (not to be taken
seariously) develop a minimum security guidance that all the world
must meet and report annually to them and the world to see.  I
guarantee you the major businesses would not even come close to the
scores given our goverment.  We are critical infrastructures and we
still leave open holes, and say need instead of must way to often.  
MY 50 Cents worth.



 Forwarded from: matthew patton <pattonme () yahoo com>
> > Federal security could improve if the secretary should decide to make
> > additional NIST guidance and standards mandatory, but such a decision
> > could also have drawbacks, said Sallie McDonald, assistant
> > commissioner for information assurance and critical infrastructure
> > protection at the General Services Administration. "But you don't get
> > people's cooperation for the right reasons," and involuntary
> > compliance could lead to agencies just checking off another
> > requirement box instead of using the guidelines to improve their
> > security management, she said.
>
> Sure enough. But considering how bad most federal systems are, isn't
> mandatory compliance with a reasonable set of standards better than the
> tenuous notion that people should improve their security
> management based on said guidelines? If the IG's of the world were
> consistently giving agencies B- or better grades I would have no
> argument. But as I recall, practically everybody is in the D- or F
> category. It's time IMO to start breaking fingers and bashing heads.
> Agencies who have national security impacting systems and who know
> better are playing fast and careless with security. We ought to be
> sacking a lot of people, gov't and contractor alike.



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