Echoing Bill O’Reilly and Hillary Clinton, former CIA Director (and Arafat supporter) George Tenet suggests that only people “who take security seriously” (the “responsible”?) should be allowed access (by “the authorities”?) to the Internet:
The way the Internet was built might be part of the problem, he said. Its open architecture allows Web surfing, but that openness makes the system vulnerable, Mr. Tenet said.
Access to networks like the World Wide Web might need to be limited to those who can show they take security seriously, he said.
Mr. Tenet called for industry to lead the way by “establishing and enforcing” security standards. Products need to be delivered to government and private-sector customers “with a new level of security and risk management already built in.”
The national press, including United Press International (UPI), were excluded from yesterday’s event, at Mr. Tenet’s request, organizers said.
Really? Who does Tenet consider to be people who “can show they take security seriously”? Who gets to do the defining, and allow access, pray tell? The “authorities”?
Surely he doesn’t mean guys like his predecessor John Deutch?
And certainly he can’t be referring to classified document-stuffer Sandy Berger.
With all due respect to Mr. Tenet, I think his statements are irresponsible. But I know how tough it can be to lose a campaign, so I’ll just leave it there.
Sheesh.
Comments
4 responses to “Taking insecurity seriously?”
I guess I shall be denied access to the World Wide Web (that itself has a sinister sound to it), the Internet (sounds like an international conspiracy to take over the world, like T.H.R.U.S.H. or KAOS). It’s hard for me to take security seriously. I keep picturing Tenet in a fedora and trenchcoat. Secret agents. U.N.C.L.E. and CONTROL and the Impossible Mission Force. I keep thinking of Maxwell Smart and the Chief and the Cone of Silence. And the sexy Agent 99. Some of my first fantasies were of her. I read that, when Marduk slew Tiamat and became King of the Gods, his motto was “Security and Obedience”. I keep think of President Nixon and “national security” and Handeman and Ehrlichman and the Watergate imbroglio. The _style_ of it all! It’s sometimes hard for me to take seriously, or, conversely, to laugh at humor.
Handeman? Haldeman! Reminds me of Arnold Harris (of Mount Horeb, WI.) calling Joe Gandelman “Joe Handelman”. Reminds me of an extremely interesting kid back in high school who called Haldeman “Hadelman”. Adelman. The _style_ of it all!
Erratum #2 here: It’s hard for me to take seriousness seriously.
Opposite of holy Dawn, who takes everything seriously….
People are using the internet for things it was never designed for and paying the consequences.
I have a few things to say about it here it is semitechnical but covers things like wireless internet operated factories. A truly stupid idea.