On Bird Nests and Locksmiths

As the world increases connectivity via the Internet, the desire and opportunities therein present reconciliation challenges for privacy and security. Every connection made creates a security risk. It is not realistic to try eliminating all such risks completely, but instead we reduce and manage them so there is minimal interference between security, privacy, and usability.

Some of us view the Internet as a vast playground where we can go anywhere and do anything, especially if we use it mainly for entertainment. Maybe some physical neighborhoods are like that, such as those in small towns where everyone knows each other and they don't lock their doors at night. But in both kinds of communities, it's not just roads and houses or computers, but people, who are connecting to each other. One shouldn't simply walk into any house or apartment that catches their curiosity. Neither should anyone walk into any bedroom or bathroom in their own home without knocking, if those rooms are occupied by a guest. For the Internet to function and serve the people it connects, there must be measures to provide security and privacy, or the connectivity becomes too risky for mainstream use. This counts for all kinds of relationships: Server-client, employer-employee, business-customer, site-visitor, etc., and it goes both directions.

When mischievous netizens poke around in other people's files, it's not just the sensitivity or value of the information that's at stake, but the general trust between members of the Internet community. This is one of the main messages in Cliff Stoll's nonfiction novel, The Cuckoo's Egg. In the novel, the hacker antagonists did not do any actual damage to the computer systems they infiltrated. But they still illegally used the private networks and equipment owned by others, which is similar to "borrowing" your neighbor's car without asking. Stoll also compares the hackers' activities to a burglar walking down a quiet street, turning doorknobs at each house until he finds one unlocked. While it's an inefficient method of penetration, it illustrates the need to protect our Web space the way we protect our physical space. The novel also shows that even someone with a small skill set could succeed in breaching even a military network through just a few carelessly administrated systems, if the hacker is patient and determined.

Because the internet is an abstract medium where abstract data flows, it's easy to view the properties and premises therein differently from their physical counterparts. Without environmental cues like actual doors, locks and gates, we have to exercise greater conscientiousness in the Web space to avoid transgressing the way we would in the physical world, and to prevent others from transgressing against us. This applies whether we're surfing the Web, configuring a company router, or providing Internet access for our family computers. Becoming informed on networking configurations and following a code of ethics is essential to healthy Internet communities great and small.