It is odd to think there used to be a world where people trusted others with their computers. College campuses and science laboratories favored loose security and information accessibility over privacy. Now computers are protected by passwords, firewalls, and virus detection software. There is an assumed lack of trust. It is no longer innocent until proven guilty. How this change came about is no great mystery. It is merely a matter of availability.
When Adam and Eve lived on the earth with their first few children there was no need for locks on doors. They knew and trusted everyone who was capable of breaking in. The same is true of the dawn of computers. For a while everyone in the computer business was like a family. They were all in awe of this new technology and worked together to discover new areas in the field. The computer geeks all trusted each other with their computer security.
Now the world has grown. There is more than just one family on earth so people lock their doors. There is more than one nerdy, trusting group of computer users so people lock up their computers. As computers become easier to use, they will become more widely hacked. It's a simple matter of growth. And the computer industry is nothing without growth.
I liked the comparison to Adam and Eve. Hopefully we don't have to have a giant flood or virus in the future that destroys all computers.
ReplyDeleteI don't typically wax scriptural, but I can't help thinking of the line about men's hearts growing cold in modern times. It seems like this phenomenon occurs in every facet of human life, computer security being no exception.
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