Blissfully Unaware

When new technology emerges, many people don’t really know the benefits and the risks. This is especially true with the development of the computer. Those who knew how to exploit this technology in it’s early infancy were at a massive advantage. In Clifford Stoll’s book The Cuckoo’s Egg such an event occurs. Hacking done by a foreign spy was so unexpected and so new, even government agencies didn’t know how to handle it. The military itself had minimal security and their systems were easily bypassed for sensitive information. Fortunately, the author was one of few people who had the knowledge and skills to see what was happening.

This brings up an important question. Should those who do not understand a technology use it? The average person knows next to nothing about what is going on in their smart phone or computer. Because they don’t know how to protect themselves they are incredibly vulnerable to attacks on their privacy and information. Do people really know the risk of putting out their information on the internet? To be honest I don’t know the risk either. Akin to the attacks of 9/11, massive cyber attacks may one day expose how vulnerable we truly are.