1996 Congressional Hearings
Intelligence and Security


SECURITY IN CYBERSPACE

U.S. SENATE
PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS
(Minority Staff Statement)
JUNE 5, 1996


STAFF STATEMENT
U.S. SENATE PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS
(Minority Staff)
HEARINGS ON
SECURITY IN CYBERSPACE
JUNE 5, 1996

The computer age arrived with great promise and expectation. Just four years ago, the Internet hosted one million users. Today that number exceeds 58 million, and is growing at an estimated rate of 183% per year. Advances in computing and networking have affected virtually every aspect of our society, including civilian government, the military, communications, transportation and commerce. Government is more efficient and connected, business is more robust and able to provide more services, and individuals now have access to large caches of information and each other.

The computer age has also brought with it vulnerabilities and weaknesses. As we rush to connect to the information superhighway, are we sufficiently questioning the vulnerabilities created by our growing dependency on computers and networks? As the most critical pieces of our national infrastructure become dependent upon these information networks, have we ensured they are secure and reliable?

The purpose of this report is to examine the vulnerabilities of our national information infrastructure and efforts by our government to promote its security. To prepare this Statement, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (Minority) Staff, at the direction of the Subcommittee's Ranking Minority Member, Senator Sam Nunn, spent approximately 8 months interviewing representatives from industry and government, as well as private individuals expert in the field of information security. The


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Staff also examined the international aspects of this issue with numerous briefings from foreign officials.

The Staff's conclusions, which are set forth throughout this report, can be summarized as follows:



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