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Comments
Meltdown & Spectre: Computing's 'Unsafe at Any Speed' Problem
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RFordOnSecurity
RFordOnSecurity,
 User Rank: Author
2/5/2018 | 11:37:43 AM
Re: Fine article, possibly over-optimistic?
Well, yes. I think we MIGHT be at an inflection point. It's up to us to take it. I do agree that there is significant risk that this is not enough of a jolt for us to really change though. We'll shrug it off until the next time. That's why it's so important for professioanls (like you!) to step up and really try and make our voices heard. I'm there with you - need to change the game!
zcobb
zcobb,
 User Rank: Apprentice
1/30/2018 | 6:23:24 PM
Fine article, possibly over-optimistic?
Trust Dr. Ford to find a cool historical analogy for the current crisis in computing. While I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments of the article, I think the current state of digital technology may be even more dire than the state of the US automobile industry in the last century.

While Nader very admirably sought to reduce death and injury from poor automobile design choices, the bigger danger, over time, has been our increased reliance upon those automobiles and the fossil fuels they burn. The unchecked ascendency of the automobile turned out to be really bad for the health of humans and the planet on which they live.

Right now, the processes by which we are creating and deploying hardware and software are simply not a sound basis for a headlong rush into a world of AIs and self-driving cars, blockchained-everything and algorithmic data feeds. IMHO, digital technology needs to take a time out and get its act together, before the unforeseen consequences of its flimsy foundations give way and plunge us into disaster.
Joe Stanganelli
Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/27/2018 | 11:19:12 PM
Re: Excellent post!
@RFord: Don't even get me started on lag when it comes to online services these days. With ads, widgets, and all other manner of frills and nonsense, there are websites that load like a frame-heavy Geocities site 20 years ago. (And even with good blocking and filtering, the blocking and filtering takes time -- sometimes, depending upon what it is, more time than if you just let the greyware tracking widget load properly.)
Joe Stanganelli
Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/27/2018 | 11:17:07 PM
Re: Excellent post!
@RFord: It's about branding. You get a Nader-like campaign for cybersecurity, and a product vendor can become the "Volvo" or "luxury SUV" of software or hardware.
RFordOnSecurity
RFordOnSecurity,
 User Rank: Author
1/26/2018 | 5:37:25 PM
Re: Excellent post!
I read a very interesting article (the link of which I will look up when on a different machine) that compared the latency of these older machines and found, quite surprisingly, that CPU speed is no predictor of UI lag. And with that, I'll now start up my old DOS machine and try and play NIBBLES, which is *unplayably* fast now. 
RFordOnSecurity
RFordOnSecurity,
 User Rank: Author
1/26/2018 | 5:34:07 PM
Re: Excellent post!
Yes, I agree. Part of the problem though is the *buyer* doesn't treat security as a feature - if I offered a more secure machine with a 10% performance penalty, I think I'd get hurt when compared to that less secure machine that's full speed! One of the challenges in the ecosystem is that vendors will continue to make the most competitive product they can, and until that's pushed toward more security by dollars spent, it'll (arguably rightly (!!!)) sit on the back burner.
Joe Stanganelli
Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/26/2018 | 5:04:51 PM
Re: Excellent post!
@RFord: One of the fundamental problems underlying this is that we don't treat security as a feature -- the way the automakers have evolved to the point that they now treat safety as a feature (or, at least, attempt to).
Joe Stanganelli
Joe Stanganelli,
 User Rank: Ninja
1/26/2018 | 4:59:58 PM
Re: Excellent post!
Agreed. This is one of the many reasons I pine for the days of MS-DOS and logging in to local BBS's with Windows Terminal or some such program.
RFordOnSecurity
RFordOnSecurity,
 User Rank: Author
1/26/2018 | 11:14:41 AM
Re: Excellent post!
Thank you. Yes, we tend to treat security as an afterthought or place it *after* performance needs. We have to make security a part of every MVP discussion we have at design time. 
moralesaugusto
moralesaugusto,
 User Rank: Apprentice
1/26/2018 | 10:34:37 AM
Excellent post!
You have highlighted a problem barely spoken in IT community: security and design


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