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Wednesday, December 03, 2003 |
Over at isen.blog, we find Another take on Smart Networks and Stupid. I don't know Brian at bmoeasy, but thanks to Doc and Jorge Ortiz I found this, which says, in part: In the future - say, this afternoon - the stupid network will be peopled exclusively with bright people and the smart network will be peopled exclusively with stupid people. *snip* I am of the stupid. And I love a good hierarchy. I really don't like to think for myself. Turn the key and go. I like that. I'm lazy and stupid. Tell me what to do. I'm a good soldier. I'm not proud of that, I'm just saying. I just like to get from point A to wherever without thinking about it. " OK, but Brian shouldn't give up on stupid networks just because thinking is difficult or painful. More and more of the intelligence will be in the *devices* at the edge of the network. The user will still be able to watch mind-numbing content without thinking about it. If he wants to. He'll also be able to get more enlightening input if he wishes. The important thing that makes a stupid network better is that the choice will be entirely his, not the network provider's. Is choice painful? Again, don't give up -- if there's a market for it, somebody will write software to make your choices for you.
I think the last part is jest -- or something -- but the rest is right on target. (Okay, the last part is on target, too, but not so rosily as the rest.)
10:22:39 PM 
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The
CRA Conference on
"Grand Research Challenges in Information Security &
Assurance" was held at
Airlie House, Warrenton, Virginia, on
November 16-19, 2003.
At the conclusion of the conference, the participants
identified four challenges worthy of sustained commitments of resources and
effort:
- Eliminate epidemic-style attacks (viruses, worms, email spam)
within 10 years;
- Develop tools and principles that allow construction of large- scale
systems for important societal applications -- such as medical records
systems -- that are highly trustworthy despite being attractive targets;
- Develop quantitative information-systems risk management to be at least
as good as quantitative financial risk management within the next decade;
- Give end-users security controls they can understand and privacy they
can control for the dynamic, pervasive computing environments of the
future.
These challenges will be detailed in a forthcoming report due in early
2004.
4:19:50 PM
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BNA News reports:
NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES 'SECURE EMAIL'
North Korea claims to have launched an email service that
"guarantees the privacy of correspondence". How many
Internet users, or even how many computer users there are in
North Korea, remains unknown, although an Associated Press
wire agency report on the email service said that few are
believed to have any access.
1:18:29 PM
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Top Security Pros Head to National Cybersecurity Summit, by Dennis
Fisher, eWeek.
We've been having summits for 15 years, and a lot of what
needs to be
done has been known for 15 years, said Mark Rasch, vice president and
chief security counsel at Omaha-based Solutionary Inc. What we need
is better technology and better cooperation and some form of real
information sharing. It's a good thing when you get people thinking,
but they'll talk about the problems and the solutions and then
everyone will go back to their jobs. We're all busy doing other
things.
1:18:23 PM
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Eric now has this
UPDATE!
Authorities in Socorro say that Jorn is physically OK but does not
currently want to be found. I am working to confirm this.
(re:
last night's ''Jorn Barger is missing'' post)
More anon . . .
11:18:00 AM
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China trains 'net
police', by unnamed AustralianIT correspondents in Washington.
CHINA'S communist authorities are training "internet police" to
trace political dissidents using the world wide web to evade state
censorship, exiled dissident Xu Wenli claimed today.
Despite the releases of three "cyber-dissidents" in recent days, Beijing
has opened up a new front against online dissent, Xu warned in a speech in
Washington.
. . .
Chinese Internet dissident Liu Di, who used the online name Stainless Steel
Mouse, was released from Qincheng Prison on parole on Friday after spending
a year behind bars.
Also released in recent days were Li Yibin, 29, who ran a website called
Democracy and Liberty and Wu Yiran, 34, a graduate of Shanghai's Jiaotong
University.
The cases drew widespread attention both in and outside of China as a
reflection of the government's policy to severely curb any political
opposition to the ruling Communist Party on the Internet.
Liu was apparently jailed after posting several articles on Chinese
Internet sites satirising the government and the Communist Party's alleged
refusal to protect the freedoms of speech and the press as stated in
China's Marxist constitution.
Human rights activists say that despite the release of the three
dissidents, scores more people remain behind bars for Internet-related
offences in China.
See also
this recent coverage at Wired, and
this from the NYT. In May, I blinked
China Sentences 4 in Internet Dissent. You can also peruse
other coverage of China here at A blog doesn't need a clever name.
(That search underreports, as it excludes days I mentioned Andrew, so as
not to turn up all my links to the wonderful
Andrew Bayer is Dreaming of China weblog
11:17:54 AM
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China implements new Wi-Fi security standard, by Richard Shim, CNET
News.com.
It would be unfortunate if we are not able to resolve this so that
the China standard and others in the world can't
coexist, said [Dennis] Eaton,
[chairman of the Wi-Fi Alliance].
Wi-Fi vendors may have to use special requirements for products that
sell into China.
One wonders about the details of a Chinese-approved security product, much
as one wonders about the security of NSA-er, I'm sorry, NIST-approved
Clipper and Capstone, er, Skipjack, et cetera.
11:17:48 AM
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How Much Is Privacy Worth? By Ryan Singel, Wired News.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday over
whether the federal government should reimburse individuals whose sensitive
data was disclosed illegally, even if no harm can be proven.
At issue before the court, according to privacy advocates, is how valuable
privacy really is.
In particular, does one need to prove damages, or is privacy infringement
itself a harm?
10:17:44 AM
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White House chastised for use of security technology, by Drew Clark,
National Journal's Technology Daily.
They have not yet taken advantage of technological
expertise
available in this country, said Zoe Baird, president of the New
York-based [Markle Foundation]. The government can set up a network that
improves our ability to prevent terrorism and protect
civil liberties.
After articulating nearly a dozen perceived weaknesses in current
information-sharing systems, the group suggested the creation of a
System-wide Homeland Analysis and Resource Exchange (SHARE) Network
designed to couple Silicon Valley know-how with low-tech law
enforcement and intelligence databases.
Markle also urged greater clarity from the administration about the
proper delineation of responsibilities between the Terrorist Threat
Integration Center (TTIC) overseen by the director of intelligence and
the Homeland Security Department, and the foundation said privacy
principles must be incorporated into any new intelligence network.
The recommendations came from a report issued Tuesday by the
foundation's task force on national security, which Baird co-chaired
with James Barksdale, a venture capitalist and former CEO of Netscape.
An October 2002 report from the task force said better information
sharing is necessary to fight terrorism.
The second report was more critical of the administration. . . .
.
10:17:35 AM
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CARNIVAL OF THE VANITIES # 63. To those of you arriving at Begging to Differ for the first time, we offer you our warmest welcome! Have a look around. Feel free to find out what we're all about. Browse the comics. Take a look at some... [Begging To Differ]
7:09:58 AM
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Burning down the house: A definitive new box set will proclaim the eclectic greatness of Talking Heads when the ugliness between David Byrne and Tina Weymouth has long been forgotten.
I must reveal that in 1999, I sold all my Talking Heads vinyl and CDs to Bleecker Bob's in Greenwich Village. I now gladly welcome Talking Heads back into my CD shelf with this definitive collection. [Salon Headlines]
7:05:48 AM
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Librarians deal with taxonomies and categorial schemes, they have cause to reflect on them, and they do not take them as givens. Morgan deals, reflects, and does not take as given, in an entry titled, nasty words haunting the library catalogue: miscegenation. It begins, Ever since it happened last week, this has been troubling me. I would like to address it at length, but I don't feel that I have the time right now. But if I don't say anything, I know that it... [explodedlibrary.info]
6:59:05 AM
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