Comments on: Web of Fear

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:49:30 +0000

Outstanding hair salon reference Solutions aren't coming anytime soon. There is too big a gap between lawmakers and people who actually understand intertubes (i.e. it's not a big truck, it's a series of tubes). Plus, there's no incentive because individuals, even squeaky wheels, aren't enough to force change.

The next decade will be very interesting.

By: Jake

Jake — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:45:35 +0000

Just thinking out loud. This problem is going to get worse before it gets better, a lot worse. Everyone wants open until it's their identity stolen, their computer compromised for botnet malfeasance, their case being tried by a luddite judge and jury.

By: uvox

uvox — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:36:46 +0000

definitely not. we need open expression: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8361849.stm

By: not saying

not saying — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:39:38 +0000

This will remain a problem until non-repudiation gets down to the hardware level and includes the net transport layer. Then the problem simplifies to, when you outlaw repudiation, only outlaws can repudiate. Some semblance of anonymity can be created for certain subnets for political speech or otherwise give the appearance of freedom. People cannot evaluate risk properly under the best of circumstances. Any manual processes will fail, and any processes must be evaluated in terms of massive computing power.

Education will help the current issues, but won't come close to solving them, and doesn't address the root causes of the issues. It's not to protect the stupid, it's to protect everyone. People forget that even in the most apparently silly licensing or often laws in general, they were put in place to right a perceived, actual or potential wrong. Do you have any idea what kind of nasty things used to be done in hairstyling salons? Even in this century, check the recalls on hair products.

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:58:44 +0000

Agreed. I wonder if maybe the Chinese firewall isn't the best way at least to start.

By: uvox

uvox — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:31:39 +0000

I think the real challenge is increasing digital literacy so people can a) get access to the interweb, and b) do so safely. There's too many without this kind of literacy (actually the literacy literacy in general in some developed nations ain't a lot to write home about either). That needs to be balanced by a respect for people when they DO get online – providers have responsibility here too: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/200....

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:20:45 +0000

Bit of a broad generalization there. I think a lot of people have changed behaviors like the ones you mention as a precaution b/c they're easy.

Being safe online isn't what a lot of people would call easy. You have to patch regularly, which we know is a big issue, even for people who should know better, and be able to identify attack vectors.

Honestly, part of the problem is lack of proper perspective. Most people are vaguely aware, while others are super paranoid. No one with any knowledge has correctly set the bar. I guess this is a growth industry

By: uvox

uvox — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:56:48 +0000

(By the way there some initiatives such as the ECDL. http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.5829) for anyone interested. In the EU these are also part of general initiatives on social inclusion/digital literacy, etc.

By: uvox

uvox — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:47:58 +0000

That might be one perspective, but then the argument could be made about educating people not to throw credit card statements or receipts in the trash.
It's like backups and flossing – nobody does it until they lose something.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:54:30 +0000

One guy who successfully fought it. Sure, it's a bit tough to get a real idea of who else has been effected (everyone's innocent, right), but I'm guessing there's a small percentage of innocent people.

Identity theft is pretty commonplace, so how about that instead? These types of crimes are really difficult to trace as well, leaving a perpetrator-less crime. I guess the point is that something's going to be done about this eventually; so, do we educate or install controls to protect the ignorant (and possibly lazy)?

By: uvox

uvox — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:13:28 +0000

we need a sense of perspective here – one guy versus how many were actually engaged in this kind of illegal activity and ended up in jail? and then there's all those who aren't injured at all on the web. license away but as we've seen with cars, they can still be used for bad stuff… … plus would you want a job in the interweb equivalent of the the DMV? Noooooooooooooooooooo.

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:09:40 +0000

There's no easy answer, but the solutions range from total control of the 'tubes (a la China) to complete laissez faire. Sprinkle in a pinch of net neutrality and pirating, and you've got a whole lot of dicey issues that will be front-and-center for the next decade.

I like licensing in this case b/c as with cars, you can do yourself and others harm by sucking at internets.

By: oraclenerd

oraclenerd — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:19:09 +0000

i waffle on this...my instincts say it should be darwinian, but if you didn't do it and it can be proven...wifey was just railing on the entire licensing thing the other day. she went to get her hair done...the guy has to have a license (pays the state, pays for CE classes-if any)...why? to protect the stupid? if he's good, the market will show that. or maybe she's just angry that I don't have a job...who knows?

I've been reading Security Monkey (aka @chiefmonkey) since I started reading online blogs...he talks about this quite a bit. Check his stuff out if you get a chance...the case files are awesome.