Everybody complains about lack of information security research, but nobody does anything about it

There has been a disconnect between the primary research sectors and a lack of appropriate funding in each is leading to decreased technological progress, exposing a huge gap in security that is happily being exploited by cybercriminals. No one seems to be able to mobilize any signficant research into breakthrough cyber security solutions. It’s been very frustrating to see so much talk and so little action. This post proposes one possible solution: Information Security Pioneers Fellowship Program (ISPFP), similar to Gene Spafford’s proposal for a Information Security and Privacy Extended Grant (ISPEG) for academic researchers.

‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in Davos’ — Act 3 in the Google-China affair

There is no better illustration of the institutional and social taboos surrounding data breach reporting and information security in general than the Google-Adobe-China affair. While the Big Thinkers at the World Economic Forum discussed every other idea under the sun, this one was taboo.

An Open Letter to the New Cyber-Security Czar

Dear Howard, Congratulations on the new job! Even as a cynic, I’m surprised at just how fast the knives have come out, declaring that you’ll get nothing done. I suppose that low expectations are easy to exceed. We both know you didn’t take this job because you expected it to be easy or fun, but [...]

What should the new czar do? (Tanji’s Security Survey)

Over at Haft of the Spear, Michael Tanji asks: You are the nation’s new cyber czar/shogun/guru. You know you can’t _force _anyone to do jack, therefore you spend your time/energy trying to accomplish what three things via influence, persuasion, shame and force of will? My three: De-stigmatize failure. Today, we see the same failures we [...]