Friday, August 27, 2010

Why is the Internet So Dangerous?

The short answer is that typical Windows-based PCs use Internet Explorer as the default web browser and run all applications with the rights of the Administrator, with complete and uncontrolled access to every aspect of the machine and all things connected to it. That includes private data, personal files, and anything else stored on the hard drive or reachable by local area network. And the Internet is a global network that reaches places beyond the purview of our government and without the protections of our laws, where criminals run wild and are free to pillage unsuspecting people in an environment very much like our own 19th century American Wild West.

The long answer is, well, LONGER.

If you purchase a personal computer today, at retail, online, or through any other channel, you typically get an "IBM-compatible" system running Microsoft Windows Seven, Internet Explorer as the web browser, Windows Mail as the default email client, and a built-in firewall that you would think would protect your computer like the word firewall implies. Seven also features a security addon called User Account Control (UAC) that provides interactive prompts and dialog boxes to inform the user that some program or process needs to make some change or install itself on the system. The UAC is what the Apple TV ads parodied by constantly and mindlessly asking the PC over and over whether to "Cancel or Allow" something that was happening on the computer.

In a perfect world, the typical user would be literate enough to understand the manner in which a modern PC goes about its business, but the fact is that even we "experts" are hard pressed to keep up with the rapidly changing environments embraced by the industry. Not only has computer hardware continued to evolve and change, but to an arguably greater degree it's the software, operating systems, applications, and utilities, which have morphed well beyond their relatively simple beginnings to become larger, more sophisticated, and more challenging to install, configure, maintain, debug and update.

THe Windows of 1992 shipped on a half dozen floppy diskettes, totaling less than about 10MB of storage space. Windows Vista shipped fifteen years later on a 4400 MB DVD. That's a BIG difference and a great example of the point I'm making here.

I was there for Windows 3.1 and the much improved Windows for Workgroups 3.11. I installed them on top of DOS, I edited and modified CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to change the environmental parameters those versions of Windows would use while running on the PC of that day. It wasn't simple to do then, and while there are no text-editable system boot files on the Windows Seven systems of today, it's STILL NOT EASY. In fact, it's arguably much more difficult to tweak and tune a modern system to make it work faster and more reliably, mainly due to the sheer size of today's ubiquitous Windows operating system, installed on almost nine of every ten computers sold in the world.

We ask today's PCs to do much more than we did of the systems from 1992. We have faster processors, bigger memory models, higher capacity storage systems that come in more varieties than Baskin Robbins has ice cream. We have networks that span the whole of civilization and interconnect people and businesses that might otherwise never come into contact with each other. We have software that simulates alternate realities with immersive graphics and sound in so many channels we have to invent new terms to describe them. We have more people using more computers more often to do more things than ever before in the history of mankind.

The sheer scope of this technology is so gargantuan, its growth so uncontrolled and unregulated, that seamier elements have found ways - many ways, at that - to subvert the design and intended utilization of these wonderfully powerful inventions we call personal computers, which, unfortunately, have little in the way of security and protective mechanisms to shield us from this onslaught of viruses, Trojan Horses, worms, bogus websites, phishing and pharming methods, ID theft, child pornography, terrorist propaganda, and all the other types of malicious software whose sole purpose is to steal, plunder, rape and destroy the very fabric of our society.

Yeah, it's THAT important. But there's more. A LOT more.....

Nothing of which I've written here is unknown or unfamiliar with the people or corporate conglomerates who founded and operate our technology industries, manage and promote our internetworks, develop and market our software, or produce and distribute the media which entertains and educates us all via radio, TV, video and print channels. Some are more keenly aware of these failures but for reasons motivated by financial gain they make conscious decisions to ignore the effects and continue with business as usual, to the detriment and harm of all consumers, everywhere.

It's not a good thing. But maybe we should ask ourselves a much different question than "Why is the Internet So Dangerous", maybe we should ask "Why are we so vulnerable and unprepared for all the crap going on around us?"

The short answer to THAT question is related to what I've said previously - it's a big world, a far reaching technology, ever-changing in range and ability, with little opportunity for "regular folk" to assimilate sufficient understanding of the nuances that might come back to bite them in the butt. Hardware and software and networks and technology in general has gotten TOO BIG for the layperson to ever be able to grasp, either in whole or in part. I know this because as a technology professional in the business since 1975, I can't even hope to keep up with all the different directions and implementations presented and promoted on a daily basis. IT'S TOO MUCH FOR ANYONE TO FULLY UNDERSTAND, let alone try to communicate to others.

What I hope to be able to do, and let's face it - it's a BIG THING - to help find one or more ways to make it easier to teach technology consumers ("users") not just about the sizzle, since the marketeers of Wall Street have seen to that in their own convoluted and confounding ways, but about the steak, the REAL meat of what's important. I want the user to understand the ramifications of choosing steak over the alternatives, of eating the steak, how the steak gets made and delivered to them for consumption. Why Chicken may be better than Steak, if I can exercise a creative tangent in this thought.

Some things in life are just NATURALLY SIMPLE, even though they may employ sophisticated technologies. I'm thinking of a toaster in the kitchen. You put a slice or more of bread into it and slide a lever to make it go. That is simple. And while toasters of the past employed controls for the amount of time the bread was subject to those heated coils, and it would be easy to turn it up so high you'd burn the toast, today's technology uses an automatic monitoring system that toasts your bread to some median level and then presents it for your enjoyment. No smoke, no alarms, no runs, no hits, no errors.

And before you accuse me of comparing toasters and PCs, or apples and oranges, let me say that comparing these things is not what I'm trying to do here. It's my intention to relate the simplicity and ubiquity of a device that does something with automatic precision and user protection, taking much of the choice, for lack of a better term, out of the equation. If our PCs worked more like toasters, the user wouldn't have to deal with slowdowns, infections, corruptions, crashes, bluescreens and freeze-ups, data thefts and criminal trespassing the way they do in the Real World. Yes I know the comparison is imperfect, but so am I, and that's what you get.

So - what IS the answer, really?

It starts with user education, training and awareness, and encompasses marketplace transparency, regulatory control, manufacturing checks and balances, distribution protection, vendor accountability, international standardization, easier access to technical support, and less expensive and more efficient onsite repairs when things do go wrong. Hey - it's a START, anyway. What would YOU do? I'm all ears on this one.

The term CHANGE is being bounced around a lot this political season, and there seem to be a number of definitions of the word, sometimes so many I think the word change itself is changing too much to get a firm grip on it. Here's the deal - what we've got now doesn't work, and it hasn't worked for years, and it's going to get a LOT worse unless we pull back now and take stock of what's important for the greater good, and begin traveling a path that has some sense and sensibility to it, and not just in things technological. OK, there. I said it.

I wasn't a regular, practiced creative or journalistic writer before creating this blog, but I can see how getting words on paper, or a website page, can make me feel better and tell my readers something they might not have read elsewhere. Feel free to enlighten me if you're so inclined. I am appreciative of thoughtful, reasoned, and informed contributions. Have at it, Pilgrim.

Thanks for reading today!

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