Expert: Battling botnets requires standards and automation

The departments of Commerce and Homeland Security have embarked on a year-long study on how to reduce botnets, but one former official says steps must be taken now to combat the growing problem.

Shutterstock image
 

The Trump administration's cyber executive order has tasked the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security with a year-long study of how to reduce botnets, but one former official says the immediate focus should be on standards and automation.

Ari Schwartz, former senior director for cybersecurity at the National Security Council and now with Venable LLP, said at a July 11 resilience workshop hosted by the National Institute for Standards and Technology that the proliferation of internet-connected devices -- many of which are insecure or can't be updated -- and increasing bandwidth of internet systems are leading to more, and more powerful, distributed denial of service  attacks. Repeaters and other technology are making attacks increasingly complex.

Schwartz said that there were a variety of successes in the battle against bots over the last decade, including the FBI's Bot Roast and DNSChanger operations and the Federal Communications Commission Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council's Anti Bot Code of Conduct for ISPs.

But he said the government failed to build on the momentum.

"The fact that you need a botnet report and we're not at the point of saying 'here is the whole of government approach to this issue' and that the Trump administration needed this report," demonstrates that more could have been done, he said.

Going forward, Schwartz told FCW the first priority is speeding up the development of standards, especially for device manufacturers.

"We're just starting to see the standards be put in place for what they are supposed to do, so I'm worried that it's a long process to get to that point," he said. Schwartz warned that standards need to be put in place before any regulation comes down to avoid ending up "with things locked into place in 2017."

He said NIST and National Telecommunications and Information Agency are playing important roles in developing standards and facilitating public-private partnership.

"There needs to be sustained follow up and sustained participation," he said. "Government is part of that. Industry is part of that, and it's different parts of industry too."

Schwartz stressed that the government needs to hold off on regulations for now.

"You've got to get the standards in place," he said. "You've got to get people doing it voluntarily and see how that goes for some period of time and then start mandating it as people are not doing it or in the areas they're not doing it."

One of the key standards is automated device updating, Schwartz said.

"Education works to some extent, notification works to some extent, but the scale we're talking about, it's not going to be the answer," he said. "So it needs to be more of automated patching in this space."

"How do we make sure that we can update things and the user doesn't have to be involved in that discussion, but yet we're not invading their privacy, we're not breaking stuff on their side, right?" he said. "That's the key."

Schwartz and other panelists at the workshop acknowledged there will be an ongoing challenge posed by expired devices that are still connected but are no longer supported or being updated.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.