Tag: security

unabomber feelings rise

it was only a matter of time before gun nuts would come out of their caves and claim that giving everyone a gun would have prevented this tragedy. typical of backwards-facing people..

especially eric s. raymond.

We have learned today that airport security is not the answer. At least 4 separate terror teams were able to sail right past all the elaborate obstacles — the demand for IDs, the metal detectors, the video cameras, the X-ray machines, the gunpowder sniffers, the gate agents and security people trained to spot terrorists by profile. There have been no reports that any other terror units were successfully prevented from achieving their objectives by these measures. In fact, the early evidence is that all these police-state-like impositions on freedom were exactly useless — and in the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center lies the proof of their failure.

my answer:

lets face it. this event will increase surveillance everywhere. no point in returning to the caves and carrying guns. actually, it is largely irrelevant whether you carry a gun or not. what is truly relevant is whether you will be allowed access to all these surveillance systems, so that it becomes peer-to-peer surveillance, or if some hidden agency controls it all. think decentralization. nobody cares if you run around with a gun, you will be closely watched, anyways. trying to ignore this reality is a weakly disguised attempt to flee into an unabomber utopia.

End of freedom

this event will mark the end of individual freedom as we know it. calls for increasing surveillance at the expense of personal freedom will be stronger than ever. everybody opposed to giving up his personal freedom will be framed as a suspect.

expect the following:

  • total ban on encryption
  • machine-readable identification cards mandatory
  • increased use of video surveillance, face recognition
  • closer law-enforcement cooperation on an international scale
  • heavy increases in military spending
  • censoring of dissident views on the internet

now would be as good a time as ever to read the transparent society by david brin.

Can we stand living our lives exposed to scrutiny … our secrets laid out in the open … if in return we get flashlights of our own, that we can shine on the arrogant and strong? Or is privacy’s illusion so precious that it is worth any price, including surrendering our own right to pierce the schemes of the powerful?

update
wired reports that the fbi has installed carnivore internet surveillance equipment at major internet providers within hours of the attacks.

Linux pluggable security

security buffs will want to closely track linux 2.5 kernel development once it opens up. there has been a flurry of activity on the security front. at least 12 projects want to extend the linux kernel with things like ACLs, mandatory access control, capabilities and so on. it has been very hard to keep track of these projects, and even harder to figure out how they relate to one another.

now there seems to be a consensus that all security functionality should interface with the kernel via a new linux security modules api. all the different security architectures would then be implemented as plugins, and an administrator would be free to chose what security architecture serves best his needs. a good report has been written on these efforts.