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The Nature of Our Digital Environment
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Author:  Rocklar [ Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:19 am ]
Post subject:  The Nature of Our Digital Environment
The following is a post I made to a discussion group I'm a member of as a part of one of my classes and thought this group would be another great source for conversation about the concept.

I look forward to your responses.

Quote:
This may sound overly philosophical but I think conversations such as the one I hope to incite with this post are useful in understanding the underlying forces that are at work in the environment we intend to protect and defend as we study network security. To whit, I pose the following question: Accepting that the internet is an inherently dangerous place, to what do you liken the internet from which we intend to protect our local network and network resources? Is it a dangerous place as a result of a natural process such as how we might view a pristine jungle which is dangerous because of the species that are native to it and has the potential to someday become safe? Or is the internet a dangerous place as a result of external forces, such as how we might describe the area around Chernobyl?

While the two options (and please suggest other theories if you have them!) sound similar since none of the internet is 'natural,' consider first that there may be a natural process through which any new environment must progress. Is the internet in the early stages of that progression and someday may be a safe place with pockets of danger or is it's current state permanent as a result of a third-party influence (such as human nature) and have no hope of redemption or rehabilitation?

I believe understanding the causation of our environment is always important to finding a workable solution rather than continually treating the observed symptoms.
Author:  Xenus [ Wed Oct 03, 2007 2:43 am ]
Post subject: 
i think this would be because of human nature, being able to do whatever you want, anonymously, is a great motivator for some people to do bad things

i do think that someday the internet will be safe(ish) because most of it will be well moderated and there will be better pop up blockers and stuff

i think some places on the internet(like the famous 4chan) will always be known as the backside of the internet.
but most places, forums, gamesites, searchmachines, will eventually be free of those kinds of things

though the internet will still be (mostly)anonymous, someone will always do bad things with it
Author:  Arindel [ Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:37 am ]
Post subject: 
I think it's tied to human nature and how people would act underthe guise that they are anonymous and/or don't have to suffer the consequences for their actions. In many ways it's like society that the few bad apples can ruin it for others. However, this is complicated by the potential processing power of the combined hadware available.

I tend to think only a tiny fraction of a single percentage really intend to inflict harm in direct way. Most harm comes in the form of personal attacks (aka trolling on forums and the like).

The obvious thing is to hold people accountable for their actions, but when hackers can hide from people who are in the know, how can you be sure who is responsible for actions. For example, if your home number/address was easily tied to any user id's you have, how much less trolling would there be (I know it's a bad example, but it's just to state the point that people probably would think twice about saying something if a person was within their home area).

Will it be safe. Tough call, there'd have to be some type of general rules enforced and consequences for people who break the rules...kinda like society places laws, but the biggest deal is the internet has few/no geographicalboundaries (thouhg if there is one, China would most likely lead that type of effort).
Author:  slugeater [ Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quote:
While the two options (and please suggest other theories if you have them!) sound similar since none of the internet is 'natural,'


I do not agree with this. all that exists is natural, even what is created by man and has no physical reality. Relations between individuals are no more "virtual" than relations with people you see. People you don't see and interact with are real enough. the connexion with people is real, not seeing is not making things not exist. (Well, some philosophies do think so, but this is besides the point.)

Therefore, internet is no more, no less, dangerous than places where you meet unknown people. Starting with...the street.

The anonymity is not so important, the point is, absence of possible retaliation deshinibits people. I often compare this with the behavior while driving. You often see someone throwing insults knowing full well he's going to drive away in mere seconds. That's nothing new with the internet.
Author:  Golga Bolg [ Thu Oct 04, 2007 7:32 am ]
Post subject: 
I was about to respond when I realized Sluggy had written my post for me.

I 100% agree with his post. Thanks for saving me a couple minutes!
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