In a conciliatory speech to high-tech officials on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno pleaded with industry to help the Justice Department combat computer hacking while pledging to improve her agency's often stormy relationship with the technology industry.
"I call on leaders in the high-tech industry to address this problem and to report cyber incidents to law enforcement authorities," Reno said at a forum sponsored by the Information Technology Association of America and Electronic Data Systems (EDS).
She said she was instructing all 96 U.S. attorneys to sit down with technology officials in their districts so that they can establish contacts that would prove useful if the FBI is someday required to open a cyberattack investigation. And she asked for specific suggestions for what the Justice Department could do to improve its relationship with industry.
At the forum, ITAA and EDS released a survey that found that 67 percent of those polled feel threatened or are concerned about cybercrime. Based on a poll of 1,000 Americans, the survey also found that 62 percent believe that not enough is being done to protect Internet consumers against cybercrime. Sixty-one percent said that crime on the Internet has made people less likely to do business online.
"We have a common goal-to keep the national computer infrastructure secure, safe and reliable for American citizens and businesses," Reno said.
But Reno attempted to reassure the technology industry that the Justice Department would keep industry's confidence and, when it comes to taking evidence, operate in the least intrusive manner possible. She said that instead of shutting down computer servers the department would attempt to copy information first.
"The Department of Justice does not seek invasive regulation or monitoring of the Internet," Reno said. "I want you to know that I am not interested in searching people's computers, unless we do in the right way," she said.
Reno also said the department was attempting to shore up its relationship with foreign countries in combating cyber threats.
"We need industry to let people know there is no safe place to hide," she said. "Although borders are meaningless, we need to work on the relationships so that there are no rogue nations that permit cybercrime around the world."