In a recent article one of the ads presented said, “Control the Chaos with a Single Security Solution.” Wow, that made me drop my bagel and choke on the drink of coffee I was partaking in when I saw the ad.
It is a bit like the model the military started to take on when I was still the physical security person at a military installation, centralize their leadership into two “single” locations, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast. I remember thinking about the art of war where to achieve a quick and decisive victory you cut the head off the chicken. In other words, put all your eggs in the East and/or West basket then let the enemy simply blow that leadership to hell and back.
In the technological world a single source of security is convenient and easy but then the predators of the uVerse no longer have to spread out the attack to cover a variety of security models, they just focus o the one you just paid good money for - whalla, single point shopping for Crime, inc. What could be better.
It comes down to advertising to our laziness and comfort zone, to find just one way to supposedly have a “single” secure protection like that firewall and anti-virus program on your computer you think and “FEEL” is protecting your Internet presence. Guess what, according to some sources that firewall and AV barely protect us from about 5% or so of threats out there racing around our Internet searching, seeking and destroying our protections leaving us exposed and vulnerable.
In a truly secure environment be it in the physical world, the inner brain world and the Internet electronic world, you need to have multiple layers of security to achieve some semblance of protection and safety and security.
In the physical security world in which I worked you had to analyze and asses the threats you face and the value of loss toward your business, etc., to create a layered security that would not protect but rather make the effort to breach the security long and ardarous leaving the nefarious folks trying to break in wanting to move on to easier targets. Yes, I said not protect but slow the effort down because in truth there is not absolute protective security model, there is only creating a long delay to either redirect the thief’s efforts or to delay them enough that the models detection and alarms would give responders time to - respond effectively.
Putting all my physical security into one central solution is foolishness nonsense. In my more high secure needs I had alarms, CCTV’s, Fencing, Human Security patrols (armed and authorized deadly force), human access controls, etc. to cause a great enough delay in attempts to circumvent so that armed security could respond, apprehend, detain and lock up criminals who attempted to gain access.
Heck, even authorized access by employees had security layers beginning with background investigations, personal and professional references checks, legal investigations as to criminal records and activities then a dual badge system with entrapment areas for both human and vehicles, a badge verification and exchange by armed security and so on just to get to work.
So, layered multiple security measures along with knowing who is maintaining and enforcing those security measures and an access control system to ensure that nefarious types are not allowed in. Yet, we will pay good money to have this unknown and completely strange human controlled SINGLE security solution to first, have the connection and social belief that will protect you as if you were family or a valued tribal member; second, who will exercise every possible way to protect you as if they were protecting themselves; third, whose agenda is not about money or company profit or board member profit margins, etc., and make you their sole reason for existence.
So, we are going to pay strangers, complete and utter strangers who are selling a product for profit and strangers whose sole purpose is to sell the product at any costs maintaining profits, etc. regardless. Just send me five thousand dollars and I will personally guarantee it will remain safe and protected until you ask for it back. Now, just wait and see if you ever get that money back.
It has been proven time and again that a single software program, like one very famous operating system, will protect you computer and data yet time and again the hackers of the world demonstrate, in short time (literally hours and minutes), that the so called secure OS can and is vulnerable and easily hacked.
Isn’t that a single security source?
We want things simple, we want an easy solution and we don’t want to have to exert any real effort to achieve our security. We want others to do it for us yet we don’t want those others to have a close social and familia type relationship. We don’t want the effort and especially the responsibility, but we do want a disinterested and detached group of others to provide us protection and for little to nothing.
We have to get real, we have to accept our responsibility and we have to take the actions necessary to achieve a layered security model and guess what, that begins with each and every one of us as individuals. We have to take responsibility for our actions as to what we do and how we do it or they are just going to clean us out and leave us broke and destitute. You cannot make others protect us with laws for those laws will simply make them angry and resentful, do you think they will go the distance for you - a complete and total stranger?
Take a close look at what you do and how you do it using all those wonderful devices that make life so easy, because it is easy that gets us in trouble every single time.
Nuff said … pull your head out of the sand and get layered!
Goodman, Marc. “Future Crimes: Everything is Connected, Everyone is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It.” Doubleday. New York. 24 February 2015.
p.s. there is a reason why software development needs a group to program over just one person; one person and even a group of persons cannot adequately program security all by themselves.
