October 24, 2005
Encryption
How often do we find that someone we barely know confides in us their most intimate secrets? Yet when faced with communicating relatively insignificant information electronically we become somewhat paranoid.
The incredible growth of the Internet has excited businesses and consumers alike with its promise of changing the way we live and work. It has undeniably changed the way we do things; everything from the way we do business to the way in which we shop.
The Internet has even changed the way in which we interact with each other. Whereas once, we may have telephoned a friend, or a client, today we can use a variety of email services, via the Internet.
However, it is remarkable to note that when it comes to communicating relatively insignificant information electronically we all become paranoid about who may actually get to see it. This highlights a major concern related to the problem of security on the Internet, a problem that has worried experts as the World Wide Web becomes more mainstream and increasingly pivotal to our lives.
Keeping it safe
There is a whole lot of information that we do not want other people to see, especially when we have not granted permission for them to do so. Information such as personal details to credit card and bank account information, or even private correspondence should all remain private unless we explicitly state otherwise. More and more people are becoming increasingly nervous about parting with such information over the Internet, and with a rise in the number of serious viruses, worms and hackers over the last few years, are the fears of these people really unfounded?
Experts have tirelessly campaigned to comfort users of the World Wide Web by maintaining that information security is provided on all computers and over the Internet by a variety of methods. Simple and straightforward security methods can be undertaken by keeping sensitive information on removable storage media such as CDs. But the most popular forms of security all rely on encryption: the process of encoding information in such a way that only the person or computer with the key can decode it.
Quite literally it is the method of scrambling or encoding data to prevent unauthorized users from reading or tampering with the information, as only individuals with access to a password or key can decrypt and use the data.
Digital copyright
Technology journalist Peter Rojas stated back in December 2000 that protecting our information over the Internet would become increasingly difficult. Rojas paid specific attention to copyright owners on many levels – from artists to multinational corporations, focusing his attentions on the question of protecting their intellectual property. He believed that piracy of intellectual property would prove unstoppable, as individuals as well as the entertainment industry and other industries will do everything they can to try to ‘stem the tide’, whilst consumers will be the ‘winners’, as they will be able to enjoy access to creative works, for which they do not have to pay.
Even encryption technology is unlikely to halt this piracy, because adequately protecting most content would often cost more than the content is actually worth. Furthermore, encryption technologies require the cooperation of the recipient of the file in adamantly refusing to share it with anyone else, i.e. sending an encrypted email to someone is pointless if that person forwards the decrypted email to someone else.
The threat that the Internet will quash intellectual property rights to anything in digital format has given rise to an industry of cryptography firms who are racing to develop digital copyright protection systems. One such innovative method to provide powerful encryption will be on Web servers, which will protect the applications themselves. As an awareness of security issues grows, so will the market.
Code Red
Researchers are becoming increasingly worried about the integrity of the Internet. Their anxieties originate in the increasing number of ‘computer diseases’ that have afflicted the Web over recent years. One such computer disease emerged a few years ago and it still has computer security researchers worried. The so-called ‘Code Red’, a webworm, was able to infect Microsoft Internet Information Services. What really worried security experts was the speed at which the disease was able to spread. Within hours, Code Red managed to infiltrate hundreds and thousands of servers, and its trail of destruction included a repair bill for the damage inflicted of about $2 billion.
System administrators were worried further once they realised that Code Red was different from anything they had experienced before. In the past, it was individuals breaking into sites separately who conducted Web defacements, but Code Red was described as a ‘better-designed automated attack…that could degrade or even demolish the World Wide Web.’
What if that was the case? What if people’s worst fears were confirmed? What would be the consequences if the Internet failed? Albeit in the face of a hacking onslaught or even a virulent Internet plague. For many this would mean not being able to check emails and other correspondence; for some it would mean not being able to make bids on eBay, but for businesses and consumers alike it would have potentially damaging effects on product manufacturing and deliveries, bank transactions and much more.
Many businesses use the World Wide Web, not only to remain in contact with their clients, but also to order parts or arrange shipments, and others rely on the orders that are made through their websites on the Internet.
Disaster scenarios
A collapse of the system would mean that the local supermarket, which may rely on the Web to keep its shelves stocked, could start to empty within days. Manufacturers who rely on components reaching them within a day or two of being used on the production line would have to interrupt their production lines.
As more and more banks are using the Internet instead of phone lines to save on their costs, in an event of collapse, consumers may be prevented from using their cheque books or cash point cards for transactions. At risk of echoing all those experts who warned us about the problems we would face at the onset of the millennium, - the so called Y2K problem - it seems that experts are seriously worried about the effectual collapse of the Internet. They also believe that if such an attack was made five years from now for example, then the effect would be far more devastating.
The limitations of security technology mean that it relies heavily on patching and fixing problems once they have occurred, instead of prevention. Security companies say that Internet users need to be made more aware when surfing the Net, and more cautious when opening emails, even from familiar email addresses, as a potential security threat could lurk just about anywhere on the Internet nowadays. The Internet’s vulnerability is obvious, and as one expert put it, ‘there is no way to defend completely against these things.’
The computer security industry is at a loss, too, when it comes to predicting and preventing future attacks. As in so many other areas of our lives today, we shall all have to take responsibility for policing our own in-boxes, whether at work or at home, in the hope of spotting that innocuous looking e-mail before it sets to work.
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