Hypothetical Terrorism
Boing Boing had a blurb up today about Kevin Mitnick’s application to The WELL and how it had been rejected. Mitnick is a well-known computer hacker who had hacked The Well back in 1995.
Following a few links, one ends up at an article Bruce Koball wrote about Mitnick’s hack of The Well. It is very interesting reading. At the end of this article, Koball took some stabs at the U.S. government and the seeming contradiction, as Koball saw it, between prosecuting Mitnick at the same time as resisting technology that could prevent these types of hacks.
Standardized cryptographic capabilities built into our computer and telephone networks could eliminate many of their security problems; but at what cost? Government spokespeople often cite hypothetical examples of terrorists and kidnappers in arguments for maintaining their ability to listen in when they feel they must, but these claims often seem overblown.
Well, history has demonstrated that those examples were not hypothetical whatsoever and hardly overblown. The government’s ability to “listen in” as needed has made the United States safer since 9/11.
“We’ve kept the terrorists from achieving their key goal of seizing control of some our most valuable allies in the War on Terror,” Bush said.
Sometimes it is important to review our positions in light of current facts.
Also blogged on this date . . .
- Dot . . . Dot . . . Dot . . . - 2008
- Name That Park - 2008
- Corzine's "Best Ideas" - 2006
- It's About Quality - 2005
- The Manor Macabre - 2005
- On the Road Again… - 2005
Tags: 9/11, Politics, technology