Cyber-Sharing Pact Gets Nod

High-tech officials meeting with President Clinton have agreed to cooperate in sharing information and best practices to protect computer data and combat cyberattacks."We're committed to increasing the security of the Internet by sharing information on cyberattacks, vulnerabilities, countermeasures and best practices as a concrete way of improving security of the Internet," said Peter Solvik, chief information officer for Cisco Systems Inc. San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco was one of about 30 companies represented at the top-level meeting with Clinton and his cabinet.Industry officials discouraged government leaders from trying to regulate or mandate industry participation, instead recommending that industry create a "mechanism" to facilitate voluntary cooperation. This mechanism, as yet undefined, could be a partnership or process that enables companies to share experiences and policies without fear of lawsuits or loss of privacy or intellectual property, said Terry Milholland, chief information officer for Electronic Data Systems Corp., Plano, Texas. "The Y2K experience would be a good example to follow," he saidThe government could assist cybersecurity efforts by coordinating industry activity, beefing up its own systems security and supporting research and development, industry officials said.Clinton announced that he was requesting $9 million in supplemental funding to create a new Institute for Information Protection and accelerate other new programs proposed in his $2 billion cybersecurity initiative for fiscal 2001.