Linked by Andrew Youll on Sat 17th Sep 2005 11:22 UTC, submitted by JonasDue
"There's lots of innovation going on in security - we're inundated with a steady stream of new stuff and it all sounds like it works just great. Every couple of months I'm invited to a new computer security conference, or I'm asked to write a foreword for a new computer security book. And, thanks to the fact that it's a topic of public concern and a "safe issue" for politicians, we can expect a flood of computer security-related legislation from lawmakers. So: computer security is definitely still a "hot topic." But why are we spending all this time and money and still having problems?"
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Member since:
2005-07-09
Actually "uneducated" is correct and it's not a derogatory term if applied to a specific area like computers. Most of us are uneducated in car repair or house maintenance or law. We can't know everything, so we learn a few of the maintenance basics and minor "do it yourself" tasks, and rely on experts to help us for the rest. There's no shame in that.
The key problem when "uneducated" people think they know everything there is to know. My neighbour is a classic example. When he bought the house six years back, he bought into the whole "open concept" idea but he didn't want to pay anyone to do it. He decided he could do it himself. He tore down several walls -- some of which had load bearing beams. He wouldn't listen to reason because he saw it done in magazines and TV. Although (fortunately) the whole house hasn't collapsed on top of him, there are cracks on the walls and ceiling that indicate that things aren't as they should be. However, as far as he's concerned "magazines say that it's just the foundation settling", so he doesn't see that he's the problem. Fortunately, he ran out of money a few months after he started so he stopped damaging his property and risking his life more than he already has.
The "humble uneducated" should never be blamed in any field (including computers). If things go wrong for these people, it's likely the fault of the experts who set things up for them.
It's the "arrogant uneducated" that we have to worry about. Against those people, nothing can ever be fool-proof since those fools are so ingenius.
> Apart from the fact that "securing" your system will
> leave it half crippled,
On Windows, yes. Unfortunately, some software just doesn't run unless you have admin or power user privileges. The reasons are many and have been documented elsewhere.
On Linux, you can have a fairly secure system that's mostly transparent to users. Ubuntu is a good example of this. The "humble uneducated" should have no problems on this system once it's properly configured and they are introduced to the Ubuntu guide and the Ubuntu community. At least, that's been my experience.