OPINION
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Tips for Candidates on Cyber Security
Next president must find right balance of regulation for internet safegaurds
By Nick McMaster
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Posted Aug 7, 08 4:23 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Noting that both candidates have plans to ensure our collective cyber security, Bruce Schneier, in Wired, lays out some essential policy advice for the next president:
- Use the government’s enormous purchasing power to make security software producers do better. Make security requirements for government software high, and those improvements will be included in the security products offered to the public.
- Market forces won’t stop a weak security program from preying on users' ignorance, so pass laws that require good results from software—for example, the protection of the user’s personal information.
- Broadly invest in research. Market forces have skewed tech research towards short-term profitability, but basic, long-term research yields the most productive results. Don’t try to micromanage the relevant government agencies—the results will be worth the money spent.