Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Schmidt Predicts Digital Sky Is Falling

Posted by michael on from the dict-cullion dept.

Danse writes "Former Microsoft security chief Howard Schmidt now works for the government as the vice chairman of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. According to this article on Security Focus, he has been touring the country, proclaiming the dangers of "zero-day viruses" and "affinity worms" that will create the kind of havoc that nothing else short of a nuclear exchange could cause. "Traffic lights, pacemakers, appliances -- all subject to outages and interruptions because in the future they're controlled via Internet, declares Schmidt. The power grid could fail catastrophically by 2005!" How do you argue with this kind of rhetoric, especially when it's being spread directly by government officials to corporate leaders?"

4 of 506 comments (clear)

  1. It's an ex Microsoft security chief... by C.U.T.M. · · Score: 0, Troll

    What do you expect?

  2. why so quick to dismiss? by tps12 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Can we not accept the remote possibility that there is a grain of truth in these doomesday prophecies? Is it not possible that the technology we surround ourselves with, protect ourselves and our families and our businesses with, might be vulnerable to attack?

    Do I think it's likely? No. But bugs happen. Human error happens. Even the OpenBSD guys have root exploits on occaision. As unlikely as these predictions are, it is the government's job to be prepared to deal with these possibilities. If that means harsher penalties for hackers, the monitoring of electronic transmissions, and the regulation of strong encryption, than so be it. It's the price we pay for living in a free and prosperous society.

    --

    Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
  3. Keep up guys by cassidyc · · Score: 0, Troll

    Slashdot, News for Nerds, that dont read it on The Register first.

    Come on peeps, keep up!!

  4. Re:There's no hope. by anonymous_wombat · · Score: 1, Troll

    I am sure that a government with the resources and technical knowhow of the US government could cause a catastrophic failure of much of our critical infrastructure through software. I do not know how many other governments or organizations also have this ability. It is good that someone is publicizing this threat. Do we want to wait for a catastrophe to happen before taking this seriously?