Internet Security

Ok, so this blog post was supposed to be on an issue facing the tech industry. I went through a number of possible options: diversity, sexism, real or perceived gentrification but wasn't sure I could do any of them the justice they deserve. Next up I considered a problem my girlfriend mentioned that she has encountered in her time in the industry. It revolved around the communication gap between engineers and other work-groups within tech. I liked the idea and thought it would be fun to write about given that DBC seems to help create very well rounded developers, but was having a hard time finding any further reading on the topic. Next try, hacktivism and internet security. I figured I could write some about DDoS attacks, online vigilantism, the whole shebang. Well, it turns out this was a great time to consider doing that as there is apparently a mini war going on right now.

Sooooo...there's this site called Reddit. I won't dare try to encapsulate all that it is (or isn't) with words typed by my plebeian hands, but suffice to say it's a fairly popular site. It would seem that many users don't agree with some of the recent actions by CEO Ellen Pao. Again, not something I'm going to weigh in on either way, but as a result some users have considered leaving the site for a similar, uncensored version. In short, some users didn't agree with the new direction the site they use was taking. Some of these users started using a different site. You might think that is no big deal. You might be wrong.

Enter the DDoS. One such site that some users have considered moving to, voat.co, was hit by two large scale DDoS attacks in the past 24 hours. Voat did not fare so well. Back up and running now, many users had a thing or two to say about who they thought was to blame. Who may or may not have done this isn't the point here though.What is the point? The point is that the internet, our beloved companion that facilitates so many things that make our lives what they are today and yet gets taken for granted, is a very fragile thing. It really doesn't take that much for someone to launch one of these attacks. The sheer number of, and ease of access to, botnets today is unprecedented. This example may be a bit extreme, but bear with me. In theory, most world superpowers are run by groups of mature people who have enough experience doing what they do that it is unlikely their emotions will lead them to making any rash, destructive decisions such as...launching weapons at another country. There are protocols, checks, balances, codes, any number of systems in place to prevent such actions from being taken without some measure of thought going into them. Consider now, the internet and put it back into the previous example. You have people of all ages, maturity, stability, beliefs, what have you, and there are no checks. Certainly no balances, and very little, if any, oversight (please do not consider this as me saying there should be because that is a whole separate blog post). Yet the accessibility of destructive weapons is disproportionately easy. Sadly it isn't just the young ot temperamental that make use of these tools to malicious ends. Competition is a strong motivator for some. If your competitor happens to lose thier ability to service their clients, perhaps they become your clients? Alas, I am going far afield here, but I think you get the point.

The idea I want to get across is that while the future of the internet in our daily lives may seem clear and ever expanding, it is still a very fragile thing. I wish I had answers for some of this. Sure, there are steps that can be taken to help reduce vulnerability to DDoS and other cyber attacks, but I have been around computers long enough to know that every advance in cyber security just purchases a bit of time. So, have a wonderful day! I clearly need to get away from the computer for a while and cheer up!