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U.S. needs cyber-superiority, collaboration

Gaining “Internet superiority” in these days of electronic commerce and potential electronic warfare is the same as getting “air superiority” was in World War II, said a former Secret Service agent and founder of an organization focusing on advancing IT security innovation in private industry and government markets.

The drive for more effective and advanced cyber-security technology is as critical to winning looming cyber conflicts, as developing aircraft technology was to America during World War II, said Robert Rodriguez chairman and founder of the Security Innovation Network (SINET).

The Army officerwho fought to create the U.S. Air Force—Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, said Rodriguez, predicted the surprise attack on the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor. He understood that aircraft were a game-changing technology. The Internet, said Rodriguez, who is also a 22-year Secret Service veteran, is another game-changer.

The two-day SINET showcase in Washington was aimed at assembling a group of technology companies, government users and venture capitalists to collaborate on advancing emerging technology, so the technology can be brought to bear to defend U.S. networks from cyber-attack. SINET’s board of scientists, government officials and private industry executive selected the best 20 of 136 emerging, innovative IT companies that submitted applications to participate in the showcase. The selected companies got to present their ideas to SINET’s audience of government and private industry officials, as well as venture capital providers that might help them with further development.

The companies represent the cyber-space pioneers that will help shape the future of the Internet, said Rodriguez. “The Internet frightens me,” he said, as threats to networks emerge constantly. “What happened to Wall St. two years ago, will happen to the Internet. That can’t happen. We have to take action,” he said.

Some of the emerging technologies presented at the conference looked to leverage the Internet as a defense mechanism itself; encrypt data selectively and track down malware via its communication. Some of the showcase presenters included:

Invincea, Fairfax, VA, application virtualization moves a user’s Web browser off their computer and onto the Internet, where it is sequestered and protected. Users, said Anup Ghosh, founder of the company, can browse the Web safely, as infected Web sites, links, and documents affect only the virtualized browser and not users’ computers. Users receive reports about problems or infected web sites and can simply shift to another virtual browser and delete the infected one, said Ghosh.

FireEye Inc.’s, Milpitas, CA, malware protection solutions can track and defend against advanced malware attacks that target high-value enterprise users on a network. Current generation malware exploits browser-based applications, mobile computing and social networking to infiltrate enterprise and government systems, according to the company. Those applications are not easily defended with firewall, virus scans and other more traditional defenses. FireEye’s solution not only tracks malware infiltration attempts in those sectors, but also the malware’s communications back to its source through it’s multistage lifecycle. That prevents it from propagating through an entire network, said Ashar Aziz, founder and chief executive officer at the company.

InfoAssure, Inc., Annapolis, MD, developed a patented cryptographic key management software product called Need2K (N2K) that prevents misuse of privileged data. N2K is based on Information-Centric Security (InfoCenSec) model and incorporates the company’s three core patents: Information-Centric Security; Cryptographic Key Construct; and Cryptographic Key Management, said James Lightburn, InfoAssure chief executive officer. The encryption methods encode data at its creation and protects data even after it leaves the network, he said. “The data owner can control who sees the data; on what kind of device it may be accessed, when and where it can be accessed and other detailed parameters,” said Lightburn.