Take that!

spy_eyeThe Guardian has published a story that suggests that UK and US security authorities are preparing themselves to strike back at the ‘bad-guys’ who misuse the internet. Hackers who attack defence or commercial computers in the US and UK in future may be in for a surprise: a counterattack, authorised and carried out by the police and defence agencies that aims to disrupt and even knock them off the net.

I am sure that many of you and the public at large would say: ‘about time too’ and ‘ serves them right’.  There is some sense of justice, if it were felt that the bad-guys could be brought to account and punished. The story in The Guardian refers to ‘secret plans’ and un-named senior officials, and generally, ‘people familiar with the topic’. As such, this is when we all have to start to take a sanity check on all of this.

This is an idea that has been around for a long time, and for as long as it has been around, nothing has come to pass. Why? I think it comes down to practicalities and to ethics. If it were that easy to be able to directly target and find the ‘bad-guys’ do you not think, the authorities would not have been doing something already? Exactly, tracking down the bad-guys is a tough and involved exercise. The other issue is that in ‘taking them out’, via denial of service approaches for example, is that you can impact and impinge upon other legitimate users of the internet. This is what is referred to as collateral damage.

The other consideration is ethics and the rule of law. It has long be suggested that in the real world, the Police and authorities know who most of the criminals potentially are. However, in most democracies to convict someone you need to prove cause and provide evidence. It is not just a matter of going along to the houses of known and suspected criminals and throwing them in jail or ‘taking them out’ so-to-speak. I believe that that the authorities who are involved in tracking down the cyber-criminals and ‘bad-guys’ have a very difficult and complex job. However, they need to continue to operate within the confines of what is both practical and ethical. They deserve our thanks and support and all the resources they need to help bring the rule of law to ‘net.

June 4, 2009 | Filed Under Identity theft, Miscellaneous, Regulation, Security 

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