McNealy calls for more industry-wide security standards

Scott McNealy, one of the founders and current chairman of Sun, has called for a rethink on IT security, highlighting the need for a more standards-based approach to the problem.

Speaking in an interview to be published next week in the British Computer Society's member magazine, McNealy said: "People want to feel safe and comfortable that a technician is not going to compromise their privacy; that they are going to maintain the levels of security in the systems that they work on."

McNealy's comments come amid increasing incidents of IT and data security failings among both public and private sector organisations. The Sun chairman argues that through better training and certification based on standards, security as an issue can be tackled and effectively managed.

"I think that [professionalism] is a valuable thing. It was a little hard to do in the old days when there were literally hundreds of different computer languages and interfaces and APIs and all the rest of it. With a lot more consolidation and standardisation I think you can start to look for certification."

The interview, a rare occurrence these days for McNealy, also covers his views on the internet as well as the publishing sector, saying traditional media mediums were facing one of the biggest transformations of any industry as a result of user generated content.

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