-Caveat Lector- Clinton Plans Campaign Against Cyber, Bio-Terror WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton asked the U.S. Congress Friday for $2.8 billion to defend against the threat of terrorism by chemical and germ warfare and attacks on computer networks. ``If we prepare to defend against these emerging threats, we will show terroristst that assaults on America will accomplish nothing but their own downfall,'' Clinton said in a speech at the National Academy of Sciences. Clinton said his proposed budget for the 2000 fiscal year starting next Oct. 1, which he is to present to Congress on Feb. 1, will include requests for $2.849 billion for the effort. That breaks down to $1.46 billion for computer security and critical infrastructure protection, and $1.385 for domestic readiness against an attack with weapons of mass destruction, both of them hefty increases over the current budget. The budget request also proposes over $7 billion for conventional counter-terrorism security programs. Clinton described a world of nightmarish terror scenarios involving nerve gas and germ attacks found until now only in thriller novels. There is the threat of computer hackers breaking into sensitive government and business computer networks, stealing and destroying information, raiding bank accounts, running up credit card charges, extorting money by threats to unleash computer viruses. He said the threat was made clear last spring when a satellite malfunctioned, disabling pagers, automatic money machines, credit card systems and television networks around the world. An ice storm in the Washington area a week ago plunged tens of thousands of homes into darkness and disrupted subway traffic and road signals. `We have to be ready for adversaries to launch attacks that could paralyze utilities and services across entire regions,'' he said. Clinton said a small band of terrorists would have the potential to unleash chemical or biological weapons against an unsuspecting public, like the nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway in March 1995 by members of a cult. ``We have to be ready for the possibility that such a group will obtain biological weapons,'' Clinton said. ``We have to be ready to detect and address a biological attack promptly before the disease spreads.'' Clinton pledged an aggressive effort against the threat but said the United States would remain committed to upholding privacy rights and other constitutional protections. ``It is essential that we do not undermine liberty, in the name of liberty,'' he told an audience of about 150 people. Clinton would spend $52 million to continue procurement of a national stockpile of specialized medicines to protect the civilian population, $611 million for training and equipping emergency personnel in U.S. cities, and planning and training for weapons of mass destruction contingencies. Another $206 million would go toward protecting U.S. government facilities, and $381 million for research and development for vaccines against chemical and germ weapons, new therapies, detection and diagnosis, and decontamination. Of the $1.464 for computer security and protection of critical infrastructure, about $500 million will help fund an intensive research effort to detect intruders trying to break into critical computer systems. It will also help develop detection networks, first for the Defense Department, so when one critical computer system is invaded, others will be alerted instantly. The effort will also create information centers in the private sector so that U.S. industries can work together and with the government to address cyber threats. And it will help develop a ``Cyber Corps Program'' to bolster the government ranks of highly skilled computer experts by training and retraining computer specialists and hiring gifted young people out of college. ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. 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