Internet Security – How things got this Bad Part2
Note: This is a 3 part Article and a long read. You can download the entire Audio Version Here
Lets go back to the winter of 2000.
The Dot Com Crash was like waking up from a bad dream. For a good 3 or 4 years there was a real air of anything was possible.
So how does this help us explain the current Internet Security Mess we find ourselves in? Let’s look at the facts.
The use of the Internet was pioneered outside of Microsoft.
Microsoft Initially was playing catch up.
Microsoft figured out how to beat Netscape then took over.
Microsoft was busy winning.
Y2k Diverted everyone’s attention and the increase in tech spending delivered unwarranted confidence in the tech sector.
The Internet boom blinded everyone; and the focus was on the next big “Thing”.
What no one was doing in this period from July 1995 to winter 2000 was thinking about the security implications of what they were doing.
By connecting the world together the assumption was “all people are good and can be trusted”, hey after all its new economy no one benefits from these virus things right.
A significant problem for Microsoft and its 55,000 employees is one of credibility. I imagine a typical Microsoft employee to be well educated, went to a good school and will work well with others.
This is pretty much the opposite from some 16 year old kid in Slovakia with no future and nothing to lose.
We have a world that’s connected together running inherently insecure software (Windows, pick a version, any Version will do).
Windows XP has been shipping since December 2001 and every hacker in the world know how it works, what its flaws are and the fact its used almost everywhere.
In the Third and final part of this article will continue to explain How things got this Bad. But don’t expect a happy ending.
