Why we need better Computer Security.
Nov. 8th, 2004 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
swestrupA recent study has shown that 80% of computer users have spyware currently installed and running on their systems, and 20% have an active virus on their systems. Most of the folks with the spyware or virii were unaware of them, or unable to get rid of them. Now, as a seasoned software proffessional, my instinct is to put the blame where it belongs: on the software industry in general, and Microsoft in particular.
The average user should no more be required to understand the inner workings of the internet in order to be safe than the average car driver needs to know about the carnot cycle in order to safely get to the store. Microsoft has no incentive to fix its horrible security problems, because the average user is unaware when their security has been breached, and so security is not a major selling point for software.
Since Microsoft won't fix the problem, another solution is needed. Linix is a solution of sorts, but not the ultimate one. Linux still has consumer usability problems and while it is vastly superior to Windows in that it actually has a security model, it is woefully out of date, especially considering the sorts of tasks that the internet requires of it.
What is needed is a fully distributed operating system and language for internet operation with a security model designed from day one to deal with questions of resource quotas, authentication, authorization, capability assignment, cryptological identiites, and so on. We already know that any successful system for performing internet transactions will need to be good enough to do banking, voting, signing contracts or the discusion of politically hot topics in a safe manner, and so the needs of these operations have to be addressed in the initial design, not hastily bolted-on later.
Thus we come once again to the reason that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_sps_ and I want to scrap the current internet and replace it with something that actually works.
The average user should no more be required to understand the inner workings of the internet in order to be safe than the average car driver needs to know about the carnot cycle in order to safely get to the store. Microsoft has no incentive to fix its horrible security problems, because the average user is unaware when their security has been breached, and so security is not a major selling point for software.
Since Microsoft won't fix the problem, another solution is needed. Linix is a solution of sorts, but not the ultimate one. Linux still has consumer usability problems and while it is vastly superior to Windows in that it actually has a security model, it is woefully out of date, especially considering the sorts of tasks that the internet requires of it.
What is needed is a fully distributed operating system and language for internet operation with a security model designed from day one to deal with questions of resource quotas, authentication, authorization, capability assignment, cryptological identiites, and so on. We already know that any successful system for performing internet transactions will need to be good enough to do banking, voting, signing contracts or the discusion of politically hot topics in a safe manner, and so the needs of these operations have to be addressed in the initial design, not hastily bolted-on later.
Thus we come once again to the reason that
_sps_ and I want to scrap the current internet and replace it with something that actually works.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Re: Internet II?
Date: 2004-11-09 12:46 pm (UTC)CALLING ALL DIMWITS! IP is the Internet Protocol, that's why it's called IP, using, you know, the letters I and P, which stand for Internet and Protocol. Oddly enough, TCP is the Transmission Control Protocol, transparently bone-headed (with the benefit of hindsight) because it is the traffic and link models, not the protocol, that should control transmission....
Of course, you know that and he knows that and everyone knows that but there's a conspiracy to all confuse each other or something.
The Internet stays. The crap goes. Simple! :)