Is the US government serious?  Broadcasting this to the public can only lead to disaster.  In several news sources as well as on NPR news this morning, the US government is searching out people who think like “a bad guy” to help secure the nations networks.  In earlier news reports, Wall Street Journal suggested that these contracts would go to incompetent contractors, used by government agencies on large projects. Now we’re going the complete opposite direction and taking people who think like cybercriminals.  It should be obvious by now, most major attacks have insiders involved.  Insiders, people with access and an understanding of internal systems, give perpetrators the upper hand when it comes to stealing information.  They know how things are protected and they know how to hide or erase the digital fingerprints left by an intruder.  Hiring people from the “dark” side can only lead to more of this.  Aren’t there numerous companies focused on securing data, that really do understand how to stop hackers?

The businesses and agencies you call on need to know how dangerous it is to be connected to the Internet and what special steps need to be taken to mitigate that risk.  This is the time to be:

• Assessing risk
• Monitoring networks
• Locking down servers and applications
• Implementing technology that will detect and assist with response.

But it is not time to be collaborating with hackers, offering them money to somehow change their character and become the trusted advisers to US government cyber initiatives.  Read more at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090418/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_cyber_security