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Internet Security Moving Toward 'White List'

Posted by Zonk on from the instead-of-the-other-way-around dept.

ehud42 writes "According to Symantec, 'Internet security is headed toward a major reversal in philosophy, where a 'white list' which allows only benevolent programs to run on a computer will replace the current 'black list' system' as described in an article on the CBC's site. The piece mentions some issues with fairness to whose program is 'safe' including a comment that judges need to be impartial to open source programs which can change quite rapidly. Would this work? The effort to maintain black lists is becoming so daunting that white lists may be an effective solution."

1 of 316 comments (clear)

  1. Mod parent up by Sancho · · Score: 0, Troll

    Everyone seems stuck in the context of web browsers for some reason...In the Microsoft world, at least, IE7+Vista actually has a pretty secure design. A whitelist isn't going to be intended to stop flaws in the software--rather, it's intended to manage computer-related problems due to flaws in the human brain.

    Unfortunately, it's just not workable without a pretty big shift in the way we think about computers. They have to stop being "general purpose" devices. We're talking about going to a cross between WebTV and personal computers, here, and that's a scary thought.

    I still think that a license to use the Internet is what's in order. Remove a person's license, and if they still cause problems on the network, fine them.