From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.0 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_20 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,fb0e906666d11d51 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-09-14 16:04:01 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!headwall.stanford.edu!newshub.sdsu.edu!elnk-nf2-pas!newsfeed.earthlink.net!wn14feed!wn13feed!wn11feed!worldnet.att.net!204.127.198.203!attbi_feed3!attbi.com!rwcrnsc54.POSTED!not-for-mail From: tmoran@acm.org Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: RE: Ada and cybersecurity References: X-Newsreader: Tom's custom newsreader Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.234.4.127 X-Complaints-To: abuse@comcast.net X-Trace: rwcrnsc54 1063580640 12.234.4.127 (Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:04:00 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:04:00 GMT Organization: Comcast Online Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:04:00 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:42502 Date: 2003-09-14T23:04:00+00:00 List-Id: > >CSPAN-2 had todays hearings of the House Technology(etc) committee, ... > This is what I was getting at when I asked about the use of Ada to protect > against worms etc. I suspect that the place to start is to ask DoD or NSF When Congressman Putnam asked witnesses "what should the government do", someone suggested a government lab to test and issue "secure" certificates, another suggested more education of young people so they won't be hackers, etc. I doubt a government lab could find obscure holes much faster than they are found now, and I'm quite sure the the small fraction of a percent of "young crackers" can't be reduced to zero by any reasonable education campaign. One thing I didn't hear (but then I didn't listen to the entire hearings) was any comment about better software development tools, such as cutting down on buffer overflows (etc.) with Ada. So perhaps we can expect a continuing low level of security, ever more expensive worms, plus the government spending more of our children's money ineffectively. Congress is unlikely to come up with good ideas if nobody suggests any to them.