Being a student of security and its principles I have always found it amusing when people make odd security choices. We all have done it from time to time. I don't want to get off on a rant here but the method we are dealing with the current threat, somewhat, alarms me. I am speaking about the current flight restrictions. I do think the current measures are correct and I am glad to see that TSA is relaxing the list of banded items and I hope that it continues. However, I don't know what I would use a corkscrew or Toy Transformer Robot on a plane for. OK…maybe the robot.
There are several more qualified people in the industry that are have been writing about this same topic so I don't think I will bring anything new to the table. However the idea in security is that you make tradeoffs. Basically how much risk will you accept vs. how much inconvenience you are willing to endure. It was put best by Richard Bejtlich "Security is the process of maintaining an acceptable level of perceived risk".
The observation I have is that terrorists don't have to succeed in any act. Merely attempting an act of terror creates a reaction, that could be considered knee-jerk, to mitigate future attacks of the same type. These acts by terrorists can cause much more long-term damage and impact on our way of life. Such failed acts will case a nation state to create self imposed restrictions. So instead of the perceived intended terror we become a victim of our own laws and regulations. Tech savvy security professionals can relate it to auto-shunning on a perimeter device. As Dan Kaminsky said at DefCon13 "It's a bad IDEA to let outsiders decide your firewall rules." The point he was making is that if you spoof your IP as one of the DNS Root servers you can effectively cut the agency off the internet. It is completely possible that the planning of terror attacks are done two fold. (1)Plan to create terror and (2) if the plan fails make sure the mitigation methods will have significant impact. Don't get me wrong I do feel that the right thing is being done currently and we have made great strides in detection and awareness but there becomes a point when, as a society, we must accept the risk and move on. As many have stated "We can't secure everything all of the time."
1 comment:
You are correct. We can’t secure everything all of the time. Please forgive me, I know you said you didn’t want to rant, but I need to point out something along the lines of your discussion.
We are willing to increasingly give up our freedoms little by little for perceived “Security” in every aspect of life. Not just airline travel. Apparently we as a society have forgotten what our forefathers sacrificed to ensure our freedom. Every day it seems like we loose another freedom (freedom from illegal search, freedom of speech and so on). I mean come on, as an adult in The United States of America you don’t have the right to decide whether or not to wear a seatbelt in your own car.
The reason I bring up the freedom aspect of our countries security issue is to raise a question. When is enough going to be enough? Don’t get me wrong. I feel the law enforcement agencies in this country (and around the world for that matter) have a terribly difficult job to do. But we have established ways to help them do their jobs without trampling the rights of every American citizen.
As Americans we have taken the stance of “I don’t have anything to hide, I don’t care if they listen to my phone calls”. But that is not the point of the issue. How much longer before “King George the W” makes a proclamation that we are going to expand the weigh stations at every state border and will begin searching any and all vehicles that cross a state line? I know it sounds far fetched, but who would have believed 6 years ago that we would let him wire tap phones without warrants?
As we increasingly loose freedoms, we are no safer than we were before the terrorist hit us where it hurt. Yes, I know, we have not had any successful attacks on American soil since that day. But, wouldn’t it be nice to know how many “Terror Plots” have been uncovered as a direct result of the illegal wire tap program, and how many have been because of good ole fashioned thorough police work? So, if you are willing to sacrifice your freedoms for more security, where will you draw the line?
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
Benjamin Franklin
Post a Comment