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Keeping Code Secure: Should Government Get Involved?


By Jennifer deJong
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August 1, 2007 —  (Page 1 of 3)
The application security market got a shot in arm earlier this summer when IBM announced plans to buy Watchfire, and Hewlett-Packard followed suit, declaring its intention to acquire SPI Dynamics. The entry of big players into a market made up of small startups is likely to boost the credibility of a message that application security toolmakers admit hasn’t yet fully taken hold: The key to keeping applications secure is writing code that is inherently harder to attack—not just blocking intruders at the network door.

That prompted SD Times to ask toolmakers whether a boost of another kind is in order: Should government specify standards for application security and serve as a certifying authority?

“There is nothing from government that says, ‘This is how you find out whether a Web site is secure.’ How is a consumer supposed to know?” said Cenzic vice president of marketing Mandeep Khera. “But how much can [government] mandate? And will the private sector listen?” he wondered.

Most of the toolmakers interviewed said government is highly unlikely to set such a standard, nor do they want it to do so. “I’d be shocked, and it would be very, very hard to do, because the making of software affects every industry,” said Fortify co-founder and chief technology officer Roger Thornton.

“I don’t think government should set a standard,” added SPI Dynamics co-founder and chief technology officer Caleb Sima. “They have lagged behind [the private sector] in application security.”

But many of the toolmakers said a government-sponsored public awareness campaign to make Web shoppers more security-savvy could help to hold Web retailers accountable for keeping credit card numbers safe.

“Government could take the message to the masses,” said Ounce Labs founder and chief technology officer Jack Danahy. “That would be hugely interesting.”

Emerging Effort
If either initiative materializes in the United States, it will come from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Cyber Security and Telecommunications, led by assistant secretary Greg Garcia. Asked in an e-mail message whether DHS intends to set a standard for application security and act as a certifying authority, Garcia did not respond.




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