Le Jacquelope
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- Apr 9, 2003
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Here's another laugh for the liberals 
Keyword: Titan Rain
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/12/titan_rain_1.html
Titan Rain: reason to switch to Linux number 247,385,621
Respected computer security guru Bruce Schneier briefly weighs in on Titan Rain, the US governments code name for an ongoing series of highly skilled and organized hacking attacks carried out against US military networks and apparently originating in China.
The expert consensus, which I’m not sure I entirely agree with, is that Titan Rain is a Chinese military effort. While I’m not in a position to know who is behind the attacks, I know enough about the general topic of IT security to also know that few, if any, can really know that either.
The publicly stated reasoning behind that expert consensus is that, in the eyes of the experts, the attacks are so well skilled and organized that they simply have to have been carried out by a foreign military. I believe that reasoning reflects a certain statist chauvinism that, in defiance of almost all evidence, government organizations are bastions of competence. Chauvinists of this stripe have failed to learn the fourth generation warfare lessons of 9/11 — that states are not the only potential players on the battlefield. The attacks could be a Chinese military effort, or they could be something else. As a matter of fact, it’s entirely possible that a Chinese military hacking effort is going on AND something else is going on.
I believe we’ll hear more about this as time goes on and, as is typical with regard to wars and governments, that some of it will be accurate and some will be misinformation. One thing you can be sure of, though, is that as networks become just another arena for warfare to be conducted in, they will become a dangerous place for innocent civilians — just like any battlefield.
Because battlefields are dangerous places to be, it then becomes incumbent on every computer user to take personal initiative to educate themselves about computer security basics and attend to taking care of those computers and networks they are responsible for.
No operating system is “secure” all by itself. Rather, some are more easily securable than others. Easily in that context can be deceptive, though. Which would be easier to use, a single monkey wrench or a huge and diverse box of tools? Well, if you’re trying to accomplish a complex task, the whole toolbox is going to be “easier” in that it will have the flexibility to get the tasks done that you need to get done. You, though, are the one who has to figure out how to use those tools — and that can be hard for some people.
Microsoft Windows operating systems are, in my (relatively well informed) opinion, much more difficult to secure, even if you think they are easier to use. Instead, I advocate using open source operating systems, such as GNU/Linux or any of the BSD’s.
Fortunately, Linux is nowhere near as difficult to use as it used to be. In objective terms, it is no harder to learn to use than Microsoft Windows. It’s just different — so Windows users who switch to Linux will have a bit of a learning curve in terms of figuring out how to do similar things to what they did in Windows or what applications to use. It’s not rocket science, though — and you can’t continue to swim upstream, in terms of computer security, in the Microsoft Windows world forever. As the breaking news of Titan Rain shows, global events, or reality, won’t let you.
Keyword: Titan Rain
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/12/titan_rain_1.html
Titan Rain: reason to switch to Linux number 247,385,621
Respected computer security guru Bruce Schneier briefly weighs in on Titan Rain, the US governments code name for an ongoing series of highly skilled and organized hacking attacks carried out against US military networks and apparently originating in China.
The expert consensus, which I’m not sure I entirely agree with, is that Titan Rain is a Chinese military effort. While I’m not in a position to know who is behind the attacks, I know enough about the general topic of IT security to also know that few, if any, can really know that either.
The publicly stated reasoning behind that expert consensus is that, in the eyes of the experts, the attacks are so well skilled and organized that they simply have to have been carried out by a foreign military. I believe that reasoning reflects a certain statist chauvinism that, in defiance of almost all evidence, government organizations are bastions of competence. Chauvinists of this stripe have failed to learn the fourth generation warfare lessons of 9/11 — that states are not the only potential players on the battlefield. The attacks could be a Chinese military effort, or they could be something else. As a matter of fact, it’s entirely possible that a Chinese military hacking effort is going on AND something else is going on.
I believe we’ll hear more about this as time goes on and, as is typical with regard to wars and governments, that some of it will be accurate and some will be misinformation. One thing you can be sure of, though, is that as networks become just another arena for warfare to be conducted in, they will become a dangerous place for innocent civilians — just like any battlefield.
Because battlefields are dangerous places to be, it then becomes incumbent on every computer user to take personal initiative to educate themselves about computer security basics and attend to taking care of those computers and networks they are responsible for.
No operating system is “secure” all by itself. Rather, some are more easily securable than others. Easily in that context can be deceptive, though. Which would be easier to use, a single monkey wrench or a huge and diverse box of tools? Well, if you’re trying to accomplish a complex task, the whole toolbox is going to be “easier” in that it will have the flexibility to get the tasks done that you need to get done. You, though, are the one who has to figure out how to use those tools — and that can be hard for some people.
Microsoft Windows operating systems are, in my (relatively well informed) opinion, much more difficult to secure, even if you think they are easier to use. Instead, I advocate using open source operating systems, such as GNU/Linux or any of the BSD’s.
Fortunately, Linux is nowhere near as difficult to use as it used to be. In objective terms, it is no harder to learn to use than Microsoft Windows. It’s just different — so Windows users who switch to Linux will have a bit of a learning curve in terms of figuring out how to do similar things to what they did in Windows or what applications to use. It’s not rocket science, though — and you can’t continue to swim upstream, in terms of computer security, in the Microsoft Windows world forever. As the breaking news of Titan Rain shows, global events, or reality, won’t let you.
