When Did you Stop Caring?
Here a Hack, There A Hack, Everywhere a Hack-Hack
I am befuddled. If someone broke into your house and stole your wallet, birth certificate, medications, social security card and then came back and did it again after you replaced them all, again, and again, and again – would it bother you?
Being a good citizen, you would report the theft to the police. Though they would do nothing, but they do offer you a card that says they will let you report it every time it happens for the next year. Don’t worry, the authorities will still do nothing when it happens again, but they will give you another card.
Me personally, this personal intrusion would bother me, I would be genuinely hacked off and want to see some action taken so that it stops. I am not interested in being a recurring victim.
Yet, this happens everyday to everyone of us. And no one seems to care.
AT&T, Ticketmaster, Disney, JP Morgan, Dell, Roku, Fujitsu, American Express, the IMF, and Back of America. That woefully incomplete list is only in the last four months. An average of 400k medical records get hacked every day. This data being stolen is not just your wallet – it is greater than that – it is the sum total of your life experience (medical, financial, personal, photos, relatives, your DNA).
We can all agree that hackers are clever, and some are exceptionally good at what they do. But most of these attacks do not require a great degree of sophistication. These companies could do more to protect our personal data, but they do not – and to be clear, it is a conscious choice driven by profit.
If it cost these companies, they would do something to protect our data. However, the sheer volume of hacks has made all of us numb to it. So, the companies do nothing. Why should they spend money on cyber security when everyone seems to feel that the hack is a victimless crime that no one cares about?
So, if someone broke into your house every day to steal your wallet, you would turn to the law by demanding security, police protection, an investigation. Your home is your sanctuary, and you would not tolerate the repeated violation of your sacred space. And when that person breaking into your house was caught – you would demand justice.
So, while I am not advocating for bigger government, I am an advocate of law and order and justice for all. So, let me posit a few ideas on how we might want to adjust our view on this topic.
- Care. If we keep ignoring the problem, then no one will think we have a problem.
- Law and Order. The success of American capitalism is built on this simple concept. Codify the standard for protections that the NSA already publishes for the rest of Department of Defense for US Companies above a certain size.
- Justice. If a company gets hacked, the CEO loses his job with no golden parachute. Plus, a financial penalty is paid into an insurance fund to recompense victims of identity theft.
It is up to us to demand change in an area that is easy to start affecting. I am tired of people breaking into my ‘house’ and stealing my data. Are you?