GAMING

Spafford, a professor and executive director of Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS), says the U.S. government and businesses have long underestimated the vulnerabilities and protection needs of our national cyberinfrastructure.

"We've had the tendency to put off significant investments in defensive systems and policy only to see our losses continue to grow," he said. "The risk to our nation's cybersecurity is not going to go away with a continuation of minimal investment and wishful thinking."

President Obama, during a campaign appearance at Purdue University, pledged to "... declare our cyberinfrastructure a strategic asset and appoint a national cyber adviser who will report directly to [the president]." In February he appointed Melissa Hathaway acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils and directed her to supervise a 60-day review of cybersecurity issues. That report was delivered to the president several weeks ago and is widely expected to be publicly released within the next few days.

Spafford has worked with corporations, law enforcement, academic and government agencies that include Microsoft, Intel, Unisys, the U.S. Air Force, National Science Foundation, FBI, departments of Justice and Energy, and two U.S. presidents. He is the 2009 recipient of the Computing Research Association's Distinguished Service Award "for his long and effective leadership on issues of computer security and policy, professional responsibility, and the Internet." He has testified before Congress many times on cybersecurity and has been a source for the major U.S. television networks and major media outlets such as The New York Times and Washington Post.