Feds eye economic incentives for secure software

A key senator concerned about the vulnerability of federal computer networks is considering pushing for tax incentives for government vendors who develop software that meets the highest possible security standards.

Ellen Doneski, chief of staff to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller (D-WV), said her boss is looking for ways to provide economic motivation for the private sector to meet federal software needs when it comes to top-level security. Speaking during a panel discussion, she said this proposal could be part of a broader Rockefeller bill to overhaul the government cybersecurity apparatus, according to an article on internetnews.com.

Philip Reitinger, deputy under secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, and Christopher Painter, the National Security Council's director of cybersecurity, both said during the same panel discussion that their agencies are exploring different ways to create incentives for the development of securely coded software.

Richard Hale, the chief information assurance executive at the Defense Department's Defense Information Systems Agency, suggested the government could drive the private sector toward higher security standards through the sheer size of its buying power.

This is definitely an idea worth pursuing. By harnessing the private sector to its goals, the federal government goes a long way in getting what it needs with software so secure it cannot be penetrated.

For more on the feds and private sector incentives:
- see this internetnews.com article