The spyware scandal in the news today is a chance to reiterate that human beings are incapable of producing defect-free software at any scale. In particular, there is no such thing as a secure online system or a secure mobile platform. This foundational issue won't go away.
-
Show this thread
-
Our main line of defense against malicious software is that human ingenuity is also limited, so we only find a fraction of our errors. And the malefactors go on to make more mistakes coding the malware. Incompetence is the great defensive wall securing most of our infrastructure.
3 replies 26 retweets 87 likesShow this thread -
The phone situation in particular is dire, and I hope we see a future where these all-in-one devices are supplemented by simpler machines that do just one thing (make phone calls, send text messages) and can't be turned into a 24/7 surveillance beacon by hacking an emoji renderer
2 replies 13 retweets 61 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @Pinboard
Returning to the era of pocket pagers? No thanks. Comm devices are useful because they connect to a network. That connection itself is an inescapable surveillance network.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
It is, but it doesn't also have to connect to a camera, microphone, and your entire social media history and email archive.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.