In 1970 sociologist and futurologist Alvin Toffler penned a book called Future Shock. Alvin Toffler’s argument in the book was that society is undergoing an enormous structural change at that time. He argued that a revolution from an industrial society to a "super-industrial society" was occurring. He wrote about this change becoming overwhelming to people saying that this accelerated rate of technological and social change would leave them disconnected. He said that this would cause people to suffer from shattering stress and disorientation, and named this phenomenon Future Shocked. Alvin Toffler anticipated in advance the computer revolution that would take place. He foreseen almost prophetically the problems that this advanced technology would incur upon the billions of people on the planet. Now the year is 2004 and people run to and fro and knowledge has not only increased it has become a commodity. We have left the Industrial age and entered into the Information age.
As we have entered this new age many have rode the wave of change adapting to the new requirements that the age in and of itself imposed. Yet many had fallen behind and had the wave of change come crashing down upon them and pulled them into the undercurrent of society’s ocean and they found themselves drowning in the waters of the tyrannical need for new skills and knowledge. Many who emerged from the Industrial age found themselves frightened by new technology. Maybe they felt they were too old to learn or maybe they seen no need to learn these new concepts because they felt secure in their present occupations at that time. When I attended high school in the 1970’s there were no computers in classrooms. The brilliant people who operated and wrote computer programs were social outcasts termed “geeks” back then. Few foresaw the possibility of knowing computer operations to be a required skill during those times.
Times changed and so did technology since the early days of the first computers. When computers first emerged they were enormous in size. One single computer would take up the area of a small building. Programs were written on punch cards and the biggest threat seemed to be dropping a stack of punch cards and losing the order in which they were arranged. Those who knew how to program were limited and thus there was a limited almost insignificant amount of people who had access to what little information these machines held. Thus security was not much of an issue back then compared to the times we now live in.
As time went on computers and programs became even more sophisticated. Databases that held vital information grew in size. This was good especially in a time when the nations became concerned with the environment. Data could now be stored in compact form electronically instead of on hard copies that lead to the destruction of trees and forests. Access to the data became faster and easier to acquire. New programs evolved such as Microsoft windows operating systems that introduced a graphical user interface to computers. This made using a computer possible for those who did not posses enormous amounts of skill and knowledge. Computers became a more even more viable an alternative as a tool to be used in corporate America. This advent of a graphical user interface now opened the door for a new group of people, home users. Computers became smaller in size and larger in the amount of data they could hold. This change lead to a bigger market and soon economics made it feasible for a home user to afford to purchase and use a computer.
Then in the early 1970’s a remarkable advancement was made that would allow users worldwide to exchange information from remote locations. This advancement is what we know today as the Internet or World Wide Web. This exchange of information now available from remote locations fueled the advancement of technology to super sonic speed. An enormous amount of data quickly became available to anyone who had a computer and a phone line. As time went on fiber optic technology emerged making the transmission of data as fast as the speed of light. Computers technology advanced to the point that home users computers could stay connected to the Internet 24 hours a day seven days a week. Computers processors became even more advanced and the speed that they could process the data increased as well. This advancement came upon our society as the morning dew. It was as if we were asleep and woke up and it appeared. In a matter of 10-20 yrs a relatively small amount of time, computers had taken over the world.
The speed at which this technology occurred led to many problems with security, and it is not slowing down even in this present day. The speed of technology is only increasing. In earlier times few individuals possessed almost all the knowledge of this technology. Now many individuals’ posses this knowledge and it is impossible for any one individual to know it all. This made working in teams a priority. With many having to understand this technology and work in teams unauthorized access to private information became a problem. A team of people could work on one project and if one portion failed to accurately perform their function disastrous results could occur. We only need to look at our endeavors in space to see this with the crash of the space shuttle. Just as the tragedy with the space shuttle occurred, many tragedies happen daily because of a lack of security that has taken place as a result of this rapid technology. Hackers infiltrate computer networks and systems and gain access to vital and secure information. People’s identities are stolen and their bank accounts drained. Corporations suffer theft of private information. During the year of 1999 alone financial losses that occurred to breaches in computer security amounted to over $100,000,000 for three years in a row. In 1999 respondents from a CSI/FBI survey reported a total of $123,779,000 in losses (CSI, 1999). Cyber terrorists use the Internet as a form of communication. If we stay attuned to the news we almost daily see examples of security issues someplace in the world and most go unreported.[1]
With new security issues occurring with almost every new development how can individuals keep secure with technology racing before them, before their minds can even comprehend it? This is the dilemma we face in this age and time. It is like a young man plugging his finger in the hole of a dam only to have other holes appear until he runs out of fingers and the whole dam collapses. This is the dilemma that those responsible for securing computer networks face today along with the home users.
The components of this dilemma can be broken down into those who develop this technology and those who use it. Software companies like Microsoft Corporation develop the software that is used worldwide today. End users are the people sitting at the desks of those corporations and also the people who use personal computers in their homes. These components can further be broken down into three groups, those who develop the software, the hackers who pose threats to security and the end user.
Instead of dealing with the dilemma at hand many in these three groups cast blame on one another. This is human nature I suppose to cast blame rather than deal with problems as it is an easier softer way. Yet casting blame is unfruitful and does not seem to promote any type of solution to the problem. The end user blames the developer for a lack of security or they blame the hackers. They say the developer is not writing good enough software to prevent the hackers from intruding. Many end users take no measures to secure themselves and blame the hackers for their lack of security. The hackers blame the end users and developer for a lack of security. The hacker blames the developer for leaving loopholes in software. The hacker blames the end user nicknaming them”lusers”, because they take no measures to secure themselves. The software companies blame the hackers who write the worms that are so abundant today, or they cast blame on end users for not installing software patches that they release. Yet as long as one group blames another no one takes any responsibility for security. This is a major aspect of this dilemma that needs to be addressed. No solutions can be implemented until these groups quit casting blame and take responsibility for their actions.