I suddenly get bored with video games, usually before I complete the last level, and sometimes before I even complete the first one. I know why, and it has to do with how I think about computers in everything I do with them.
Basic fact of computers, everything they do comes down to a 1 or a 0. Programs really are nothing more than sequences of these two digits, that will ultimately lead to nothing more then a complex pattern of 1s and 0s. If you stare long and hard, you will see this pattern start to repeat itself.
If condition (x) do condition (y).
Of course I am being simplistic in just how complex these programs (games) get, but luckily the human brain thinks at a magnitude more, that is enough to continually pick out the patterns expected by the game to complete the actions needed. At that point the mystery and excitement of exploring these virtual worlds goes away for me, and the game is done.
The exception to all this is live play with other people. But of course, at that point, we have inserted a human pattern into the computer ones, essentially humans defining how the pattern will play out, and when there are humans involved, there is no telling what can happen. You have to think outside the rules of the game to win.
And I think that is why the job of complete computer security can never be completed. All the strategy, planning and safeguards actually have very little to do with computers, and everything to do with how people are using computers, (or more to the point, allowed to use them). I love how simple that sounds, but of course, people don't like to be told what to do, let alone being forced too, so the game goes on. I have to chuckle when people ask me 'if they're safe' when they use a computer for this and that. Is it turned on? Then no, you are probably not safe.
All you can do is watch for new patterns.
1 comments:
The state of "computer" security (including network security) is a by-product of natural human progress. Humans tend to put accomplishment ahead of common sense. Sometimes you can blame it on simply being innocently naive, but often it is attributed to greed.
When we're trying to realize an objective we can lose sight of anything that is not in direct support of achieving that objective.
Take for instance the development and evolution of the Internet. It started out as an effort to simply get computers talking together. Security was an after thought. One usually doesn't set out to build something that doesn't exist yet by anticipating how it will be subverted first...because it doesn't exist yet. You fine tune your design after you get the thing working first...which computer networking has been doing for over 40 years.
There's another great example: the modern medical miracle of X-rays. Originally it was treated as a novelty and displayed as a side show attraction. Little did they know the dangers they were exposing themselves to while it was being invented. However, once they learned the inherent risks then they reacted accordingly, ...and it's still not risk free.
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