Repères 10/03/08 - Einstein contre les hackers
Einstein and U.S. cybersecurity
by Shaun Waterman, Washington (UPI) Mar 03, 2008"The Einstein program -- the most significant element yet unveiled of the classified multibillion-dollar cybersecurity initiative President Bush signed last month -- will still leave the U.S. government's IT security lagging the private sector, say lawmakers and industry experts.
At a hearing last week on Capitol Hill, officials faced close, skeptical questioning about the program, an intrusion detection system that will automatically monitor and analyze Internet traffic into and out of federal computer networks in real time -- allowing officials at the Department of Homeland Security to scan for anomalies that might represent hackers or other intruders trying to gain access or steal data."There are still some gaping holes," said Rep. James Langevin, D-R.I., of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Officials at the hearing linked Einstein with the White House Office of Management and Budget's Trusted Internet Connections initiative. TIC requires all federal departments and agencies to report on all their external network connections, with the aim of reducing the current 4,000 or so across the federal government down to 50 by June this year.
Einstein will be deployed at all those points of access, Scott Charbo, the Homeland Security official responsible for the program, told United Press International in a recent interview.
Departments and agencies will "deploy the sensors to the portals identified" as being among the 50 or so that will remain open, he said.
But some Democrats and industry observers are skeptical about Einstein's capabilities..."
