Iggy asks:
If
the world's information infrastructure
(you know, the place where your money is kept) (rollover: where money kept)

were being taken over by organized crime,
would you care?

Yes    No   Not sure

It does indeed appear that organized crime is attempting to take over the world's information infrastructure.

What is their rate of progress?

Answer: The latest "botnets" are so powerful, we've given them the name Arpanet II.

What are their plans?

Answer: unknown, although they certainly involve your money

I'm sorry, I forgot what you said. Do you care?

Yes    No   Not sure


Yes:
take to Iggy or other

No
or
Not sure:

Internet is Broken page

then

This article from Security Absurdity:

The Complete, Unquestionable,
And Total Failure of Information Security.



Do you care?
We have a way to fix it but it involves your getting involved. No, it's not just a matter of buying a shrinkwrap box of SuperDuper VirusMalwareZapper nonsense. It's about fixing things as you would fix a town where criminals threatened to take over. Warning: You may be asked to actually think  about things like identity and authority rather than assume that the technologists are the experts and defer to them. The technologists, the security experts, are not expert in these matters. In fact when it comes to matters of identity and authority you probably understand the issues better than the security technologists do.

So. We need to know the answer to the question:

HOW MUCH DO YOU CARE ABOUT FIXING THE WORLD'S INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE?

1. Huh? I'm OK, I just like updated my SuperDuper VirusMalwareZapper files. Hey, couldn't you see I was sleeping? I mean gimme a break, man. Just lemme rest for another    years.

2. OK, I'm back and I talked to my chief security officer expert. He tells me that our Intrusion Prevention System has been upgraded to zap blended threats including some known rootkit problems. This time I really think we're safe. 

Define "think": 

3. The Internet used to be described as an Information Highway. A highway is of course an open, public, outdoor transport facility that we typically use to bring us to bounded spaces called buildings. The fact that we no longer call it a highway means that the Internet is no longer a highway and we're no longer keeping our files, having our meetings and letting our kids hang out in busy rest areas alongside the public outdoor transport facility that used to be the Internet. That means that we no longer have anonymous criminals from somewhere in central Asia planting keyloggers and building botnets inside our computers because of course they are in online buildings that carry occupancy permits whcih mean that there's no way for invisible anonymous people to get in. 

Do you agree with that assessment?

4. No? Then why do you keep asking, "What [malware scanner/firewall/intrusion detection/prevention/unified threat modeling/ etc. etc. etc.] software or hardware widget can I buy that will keep my computer safe?" Don't you get it? As long as you buy that stuff instead of stopping and asking yourself how you protect your physical home and office there there will always be an industry selling the barbed wire and Remington rifles of the old open rangeland cowboys or jungle commandos. Look, they know you'll buy this notion of protection as though you're in some commando outpost in the jungle because it's a hell of a lot more compelling and attention getting than talking about the architecture of office buildings and homes. Do you really believe that stuff is going to protect you into the future? If so, why do you have more malware in your computer today than you did last year?

5. And while we're at it, let's talk about certification. Matt Blaze famously remarked that "A commercial certification authority protects you against anyone whose money they refuse to take." Do you know what it takes to get that lock icon to appear on the site of some career criminal?

6. Now suppose traditional certifications worked like that? Suppose we had Fred's Check Cashing, Ultra-Kwik Drivers' Licenses and Any-Nation-No-Questions-Asked Passports?

             Oh, OK, we do have them don't we. Only they have to operate illegally in the shadows. On the Internet we let them advertise their utter fraud and we say nothing. Why? Because my IQ matches that of the average Internet user and therefore I defer to the "security experts." 

My IQ is [input limited to 2 digits]

    

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