Richard Clarke, Bush's computer security adviser, told hackers at the Black Hat conference that most security holes in software are not found by the software makers but by independent users.
"Some of us, here in this room, have an obligation to find the vulnerabilities," Clarke said.
Government-funded computer research facilities have identified thousands of vulnerabilities in computer software over the past year, including those in Microsoft operating systems and programs by companies such as Oracle, Sun and America Online. (AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNN.com.) Such vulnerabilities can allow criminals to break into or disrupt home or business computers.
Clarke cautioned that hackers should be responsible in reporting programming mistakes. A hacker should contact the software maker first, he said, then go to the government if the software maker does not respond soon.
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