Schmidt flagged the need to declassify data during his years at the White House and said progress had been made prior to his resignation from the job in May last year. For Schmidt, the suppression of information denies organisations the ability to defend themselves from attack, noting that it can take months for information to be declassified.
From the time the FBI was notified, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the Department of Defense all responded [but] it took 102 days from the time it was reported to the time they went out to industry members. If the declassification effort fails — and it is thought to have stalled amid the recent US Congress reshuffle — then Schmidt said the private sector should take charge and share vulnerability and threat data.
In recent years, security researchers have discovered and extensively detailed malware thought to have been developed by nation-states to launch attacks and conduct espionage against foreign interests.
Schmidt said it is also reckless because such attacks can cause collateral damage against critical private infrastructure, and the malware can be reverse-engineered and re-appropriated for further attacks.
Link: http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/330685,five-eyes-push-to-declassify-security-vulnerability-data.aspx?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=SC+Magazine+News+feed