CDR: The "Ungoverned", or at least "Unprotected" (was Re: NSA

[David Honig]

At 02:30 PM 10/17/00 -0400, R. A. Hettinga wrote:
>"Infowar" will be -- is being -- fought by business, because government
>in this sphere is too damned slow -- too expensive -- to be of much use
>there.
>
>Put another way, it won't be the NSA which does our computer security,
>and, if any third party does it at all, it'll be firms like Counterpane
>and L0pht/@Stake, operating like those fictional private protection
>"rackets" in Vernor Vinge's anarcho-capitalist chestnut novella _The
>Ungoverned_.

For defense, yes.  The @stakes of the world will show vulnerabilities
in generic systems.  They will have automated tools for this.  
Having found a hole, they mark it and move on.

However the TLAs will invest in mapping these holes (and not notifying
anyone, including the public about new vulnerabilities) and in developing a
different and more aggressive strain of tools.  Different needs (defense
vs. offense) yield different tools.

dh