Truth About Computer Security Hysteria
The significance of one handwritten resignation letter
Rob Rosenberger, Vmyths co-founderTuesday, 16 November 2004
"I HAVE HANDWRITTEN this [resignation] letter," U.S. attorney general John Ashcroft told the president on 2 November, "so its confidentiality can be maintained."
| A U.S. attorney general turned in a handwritten resignation — because he didn't trust the security of a classified laptop he takes on road trips. |
| Security firms failed to lull the highest ranks of the Bush administration to trust their own computers. |
Understand this, folks. Security firms failed to lull the highest ranks of the Bush administration to trust their own computers. Ashcroft's actions prove it. It certainly doesn't help matters when a critic like myself reveals how the U.S. government blindly trusts the antivirus industry and how antivirus firms threaten U.S. national security. But let's not digress. Sadly, I doubt the computer security industry realizes the significance of this one handwritten resignation letter. "The guy's just an old fart," they'll rationalize. "The idea of computing is lost on anyone over the age of fifty." If a few experts saw it for what it is, then they probably hope the media will overlook it, just as they overlook so many other things. In order to understand the significance of what the attorney general did, we must ask a question we can't easily answer. "Why doesn't Ashcroft trust a classified laptop?" This question hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw "handwritten" and "confidentiality" in the same sentence. I think the answer to this question lies in Ashcroft's pragmatism as a lawyer. He understands the value of a locked file cabinet and the threat of a photocopier. (Bear with me, folks...) Any paralegal with a key to the file cabinet can make photocopies of any document in that cabinet. Ashcroft is a savvy lawyer, and a savvy lawyer keeps his most confidential files locked in his office desk where no one else can touch them. A computer is the digital version of a file cabinet; Ashcroft must know this. But guess what? Any number of network administrators can "photocopy" any file on his PC!
- Vendor:
- Mr. Attorney General! Sir, I'm with a computer security firm known as 'Counterpane.' Our chief technical officer, Dr. Bruce Schneier, would like to meet with you to discuss--
- Ashcroft:
- Here.
- Vendor:
- What's this?
- Ashcroft:
- It's a Bic® Cristal® Grip fine point. Tell Schneier to guard it with his life.
HEREIN LIES A fundamental problem for the computer security industry. Ashcroft probably realizes he can't have sole access to his most sensitive files.
Worse for the industry, Ashcroft may have realized his "security experts" can't stop viruses from running rampant on his classified laptop. (Very few people truly realize this, but let's not digress.) Network administrators must constantly upgrade the locks on every computer, or else those locks will stop working as advertised!
Worst of all for the computer security industry, Ashcroft almost certainly knows their ranks swell with green-haired clowns and arms dealers and self-confessed felons. I said it before and I'll say it again:
"Why doesn't Ashcroft trust a classified laptop?" We can't easily answer this question — but I think it's because he doesn't trust a clown or a prostitute or an arms dealer or a felon to sell him a "lock" that constantly needs fixing. Now you realize the significance of one handwritten resignation letter. Security firms failed to lull the highest ranks of the Bush administration to trust their own computers. Ashcroft's actions prove it.
The "computer security industrial complex" reeks of PR stunts. It's a media circus filled with clowns who want to siphon billions of dollars of counterterrorism funds so the Keystone Cops can shield you from Osama bin Virus. A lazy press will knowingly report lies while they ignore truly important stories. Prostitutes stand fearlessly on the corners of New York City and compare "cyber-terrorism" to real terrorism. They stand fearlessly on the corners of Washington, D.C. and compare "cyber-war" to real war. This media circus has no shame; they'll sell tickets to everyone young & old, from kindergarten age to WWII vets. They pull numbers out of thin air and tell whoppers with a perfectly straight face. They want you to blame everything but them when they fail to do what you pay them for. And most of all, the media circus wants you to believe their PR stunts without question.
