Is The Internet Broken? Cyber-Warfare

Noone will disagree that the Internet works. It works very well, almost too well. But it seems that everyday there is yet another report of a cyber-attack. Most recently at least 34 companies were targeted. The companies targeted besides Google, included Dow Chemicals, Northrup-Grumman, Adobe, Yahoo, etc. Were it not for Google, most of us would have been oblivious of this attack. Afterall why should a company advertise that it was the target of a serious attack, whether successful or not. It begs the question of how frequent and serious these attacks are.

Not too long ago the major concern was a new virus that would somehow infect your computer and either erase all your files or write something on the screen. But these days the concern, besides your computer, is the whole national infrastructure. As the recent attack suggests, no company is safe. Considering that the Internet is used for day-to-day business, any such attack whether successful or not, can significantly cripple the workings of a company. In fact, the result may not be known immediately.

The problem with the Internet is that it is very susceptible various forms of attack. In fact, the Internet has become a complicated game of cat and mouse. I suppose that it should not matter, except that so much critical data crosses the Internet that damage to personal or social data becomes a matter of constant vigilance. The Internet is known for it "openness", the ability of users to freely access data of whatever form limited by appropriate laws that are specific to each country.

Conceptually the ability to cripple an entire nation remotely is a compeletly new global phenomenon that presents some interesting issues. Not unlike the Industrial Revolution, the Internet created a "Communications and Control Revolution". Not only can the Internet provide us with ubiquitous communication, it also provides us with ubiquitous remote control. Picture a national leader with a TV-like clicker with buttons labelled with nations, each button represents the activation of a cyber-attack on the labelled nation. Perhaps the picture is a little extreme, but that is what the new world of cyber-warfare is all about. The ability to cripple all or parts of a nations infrastructure. This type of attack was certainly used by Russia against Georgia during their brief "hot" war.

The Internet moved us closer to a global village but at the same time it allows the village to be potentially self-destructive. Is a global village functional when there are no locks? When anyone can have access to your home?

So how do we fix this, or does it need fixing? Do you trust the Internet, should you trust the Internet? Whatever fixes need to be done, they will certainly cost money. The idea of an open Internet certainly needs to be examined. Perhaps ubiquitous access to all sorts of data is not such a good idea. We can certainly think about companies having very strong limits on global access to the Internet. Perhaps like national boundaries that limit free access of movement by people, the Internet needs to be policed by nations. As a foreign citizen needs a passport and perhaps a visa, should there be national boundaries for data that limit or in some manner curtail access to a national Internet infrastructure?

Already countries such as China has strong restrictions on various web sites, maybe we should create mechanisms that limit access from foreign entities. In some cases, countries would trust other countries (no visa) and in other instances strong access control mechanisms would be put in place to deter and/or prevent attacks from nations we don't trust. In anycase, there needs to be a discussion at the national level of how to "police" the Internet. Or in the absence of policing functions, a new form of Internet access that provides for some very strong security mechanisms.

So the question to ask yourself, how much government policing of the "national" Internet would you like? Should there be national boundaries for data? Do you want your personal data to be freely available anywhere in the world?

The following links provide more information about security issues. The first link points to articles recently appearing that describe some of the issues facing the country in dealing with cyber-attacks. The second link is a current article dealing with these issues.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/timestopics/series/cyberwar/index.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/world/26cyber.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts

This week the Republicans have discovered a new hero. Scott Brown, a conservative Republican, was elected senator from Massachusetts, a "liberal" state. Not only that, but he replaces Ted Kennedy argueably one of the most liberal politician in recent memory. So is this an historic event or just another day in the topsy-turvey world of the current political climate in the US.

One thing is for sure, the Republicans are looking for heroes and what a better hero than a conservative Senator from the Northeast. He has shown himself as an engaging personality, likeable, with a sense of humor. Furthermore, he can probably articulate his ideas and hopefully can identify the newspapers he reads.

But Senator Brown has 2 years to prove himself to the people of Massachusetts, in 2012 he will face reelection. His record will in all likelihood be conservative, he probably will not venture far from Republican orthodoxy. Whether this is the ideology that the citizens of Massacusetts have accepted or whether this was a knee jerk reaction to the lackadaisical campaign by his opponent, Martha Coakley, will be then determined.

But on the national stage, perhaps one of the biggest losers is Sarah Palin. She becomes overshadowed by a pickup driving newly elected Senator from the Northeast. He can become the poster boy in just about any Republican state, much less a Democratic state whose population is tired of complicated solutions. He is everyman, accessible, someone you can identify with. Again, whether this holds or not depends on his performance in the next several months. But I'm sure he will have lots of help.