Tortoise and the Hare meet Smokey the Bear with FTC security initiative, The

Northwestern Financial Review, Dec 15-Dec 31, 2002 by Dullum, Justin

[technology]

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an information systems security initiative. Dewie the Turtle-the FTC's e-security mascot, is leading the charge. Dewie's energetic cartoon persona doesn't appear to suffer from the notorious lack of speed associated with most turtles-or government initiatives for that matter. Dewie's message recalls that of the Tortoise and the Hare-taking your time to develop safe Internet guidelines pays off in the end.

Dewie is a big part of the FTC initiative, centered on a Web site containing concise information on Internet security. The information is aimed at individuals and small businesses.

Orson Swindle, one of five FTC commissioners, said Dewie is the agency's tool for holding the public's attention. The idea came about when Swindle was thinking about things that held his attention in the past.

"I grew up with Smokey the Bear. Most of us have. I told our staff of creative young people to come up with something like Smokey the Bear. Then came the birth of Dewie," Swindle said.

The FTC hopes Dewie possesses some of Smokey's capacity to introduce concepts across generational lines. With Smokey, said Swindle, people over a long period of time were made aware of the damage caused by forest fires and society eventually became more mindful of fire in wooded areas. The tinder in the world of high-speed Internet connections is bits of information. Getting people to closely guard their personal information is like dumping water on a campfire.

Swindle credits Peter Ford, the First Assistant Secretary of the Australian Attorney General's security division, with coining the phrase `culture of security'a phrase that appears on the Web site and one that Swindle uses to describe the level of awareness required to effectively combat network security issues. "People have got to understand that we're in a new environment. Thinking about security needs to become intuitive-like looking right and left before crossing the street," Swindle said.

Bankers are in a good position to help their valuable small business customers navigate the e-commerce waters, Swindle said. "The banking industry, for very obvious reason, has been a leader in employing good security practices. Think of what would happen if we saw their systems get corrupted."

The relationship between banks and small businesses is symbiotic. To help protect their customers from the havoc a virus can wreak on a business, Swindle said banks should leverage their contact with small business customers and help educate them about the dangers of not taking personal responsibility for their electronic data.

For small businesses, viruses pose a large threat. Historically, the most damaging viruses propagate themselves via the victim's e-mail program. People in a victim's e-mail address book receive a legitimate looking e-mail from a trusted friend. Opening the e-mail, however, releases a virus-some of which can do extensive damage.

"I have a close friend, a pharmacist in a rural area, who had a company that supplies medical equipment," said Swindle. "He has twenty employees and has grown to the point where he relies on a computer system. I received an e-mail from him one day that had a suspicious looking subject line. I'm tuned into these things so I didn't open it but instead called him and asked if he had sent it. He moaned and said `Oh no, you got it too? Our system has a virus.' He told me it completely destroyed his database. All of his inventory, billing and things like contacts were gone. It cost him thousands of dollars to fix the damage."

The tools needed to thwart hackers and viruses are not a secret, said Swindle. The first line of defense is as simple as installing anti-virus software and installing a firewall, which is software or hardware designed to block hackers from accessing your computer. The cost of these technologies is relatively low. "Small businesses don't necessarily know all this stuff. They're busy trying to do what they're in business to do. Bankers should be handing this information out to their business clients. They have a vested interest. They've got money lent to these businesses," Swindle said.

Article titles found on the FTC Web site range from "A Consumer's Guide To E-Payments" to "Advertising and Marketing on the Internet." Swindle said the FTC is encouraging banks to download and reproduce the articles for their customers. A link to the Web site is located at www.ftc.gov. Just look for the turtle. *