Perhaps you've noticed the same thing I did: Two recent stories about computer insecurity that involve some Very Important Companies: Siemens and Citibank.
It was in Thursday's paper last week that the WSJ carried a story about a virus attack on Siemens' equipment. Now, we aren't talking about personal computer equipment. This gear from Siemens is very large scale computer equipment that's used to monitor automated plants. These are plants that purify water, generate power and, plain old ordinary manufacturing facilities. This is very bad news as it realizes some of our worst fears, fears articulated by Richard Clarke in his book Cyber War
Then, in today's paper, comes news that Citibank's iPhone app stores information about accounts and recent transactions on the iPhone which, theoretically, could lead to weakened security position. Think of it this way, it's almost like leaving your bank statement in your car on the passenger seat. It's probably safe, but you know it isn't a best practice.
Our hunger for the benefits and convenience of technology far outstrip our ability to safely satisfy our appetite. Furthermore, we're becoming inured to some of these threats and mere weaknesses. For example, it just occurred to me that loading my Tivo with music and movies from my computer. Of course, all the music and movies I've transferred have been legitimately acquired, but what if they weren't. Tivo collects viewing data from my machine. Etc.
Frankly, I'm much more concerned about the threat to our serious infrastructure than my own privacy as my life is blameless, of course. I just don't ant to be under the Bay on BART when the lights go out. Agreed?
