Re: article: "Silicon Valley's next boom could be profitably patriotic"

From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@aeiveos.com)
Date: Sat Dec 22 2001 - 15:27:48 MST


On Sat, 22 Dec 2001, Amara Graps wrote:

> "Congress has approved $40 billion for domestic defense capabilities"

The papers don't go into much of the details unfortunately. There
is probably a few billion going into vaccines and biomedical research.
There is another huge chunk going into emergency preparedness
(FEMA teams, hospitals, etc.). Then there is a lot that needs to
go into securing water supplies, chemical plants, air intake ducts,
access to public buildings, federalizing airport security, etc.
Reliable security doesn't come cheap.

> "Last week two House leaders proposed the $7.5 billion Cyber Security
> Research and Development Act."

Early on in its life the Code Red Worm was estimated to have cost $1.2 billion.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/08/01/code.red/

Makes sense -- maybe 100+ million machines, 1-3 hours to upgrade, $10-50/hr.
The costs of security holes mounts quite quickly.

> "will take to task departments that don't spend *more* on computer security"

Spend the money & be secure or be insecure and potentially amplify
the problem. Should "Thyphoid Mary's" be allowed to walk the streets
and spread the disease?

> "Washington and the Valley share a common interest in putting new
> technologies to use as fast as possible."

Yea, well, that's politics for you.

Robert



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