02 Sep Another Day, Another Cyber Story….
Another day, another story of the cyber tail wagging the cyber dog (let’s call him Astro).
“Astro”
The cyber security threat to all portions of our society seems to be growing faster than Jack’s beanstalk on steroids…and the government knows it. Why else would the head of the NSA and General Keith Alexander run to the Black Hat and DEFCON conventions a few weeks back making all nicey nicey, showing up out of uniform, and in blue jeans and a T-shirt no less? Just by its very existence, the government is about control, and I would not be surprised if they know this sandstorm is gaining on them faster than they can run.
Of course, the Feds admit they don’t know it all? That is a tough one for them to swallow. Hello, government investigators and lawyers, here is a hint: if you want to recruit hackers to your team, you may want to stop acting like investigators and lawyers. Hackers, well, they like rockin’ that boat, right? They don’t really like rules and order and restrictions. Not really a good fit for a government agency…. team play and pretending that you don’t smell a skunk being crucial skills to survive inside the Beltway. I guess they are just going to have to put on a training course before these new recruits will fit in.
In the meantime, it isn’t cool to have a stressed look on your face when in the enforcement business. Therefore, I was very intrigued to read in The IT Daily recently: “FBI Surveillance Backdoor Might Open Door to Hackers”
Basically, the FBI wants back doors encoded into Google, Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft, to name a few. They are afraid that they are going to get frozen out of communications when trying to rein in any threats to the country. (I will save my concern for the slim chance the Feds might abuse their powers for another blog, as there is such a slim chance of governmental abuse of power…yeah, right. Ahem.).
The problem as I see it is that the government is not usually voted the smartest guy in the room, so what happens if someone opens these back doors with a plan other than defending the USA? I get that we need security. It is critical to every citizen in this country that we maintain our security and our privacy, but here we go again with the debate on the public sector or the private sector being better equipped to handle such sensitive tasks. The government doesn’t build planes; they buy them from Boeing and Lockheed. The government doesn’t build computers, they get them from Dell, Apple, and is Wang still around (just saw that antique in a government office last month)?
Oh, wait, now I get why the NSA head was at BLACK HAT and DEFCON! Smart guy that General Alexander. Why, I bet he thinks they need help! Now does anyone else in DC get that there actually are a few geniuses outside the Beltway? I hope so, boy oh boy do I hope so.
And please be nice to those of us outside the Beltway…I know this may be a stretch for you, but we are smarter than you think.
Michael Daugherty is President & CEO of LabMD, an Atlanta-based clinical and anatomic medical laboratory with a national client base. Mike founded LabMD in 1996 after 14 years in surgical device sales with U.S. Surgical Corp. and Mentor Corporation.
Outside of LabMD, enjoys playing tennis, travel, and flying his Cirrus SR22 Turbo single engine aircraft.
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