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Crime Expert Backs Call For "License To Compute"
The Cable Guy writes to mention that Russel Smith, one of Australia's principal criminologists, is pushing for first-time computer users to be required to earn a license to browse the web. "The Australian Computer Society launched computer driver's licenses in 1999. It aimed to give users a basic level of competency before they started using PCs. But the growth in cybercrime has led to IT security experts such as Eugene Kaspersky to call for more formalized recognition of a user's identity so they can travel the net safely. Last week Dr. Smith sat in front of a Federal Government Inquiry into cybercrime and advised Australia's senior politicians on initiatives in train to fight cybercrime. He said that education was secondary to better technology solutions."
more formalized recognition of a user's identity so they can travel the net safely
How does letting THEM, know who I am, make ME safer?
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Computers license YOU !
Yours In Ulyanovsk,
Kilgore Trout
Russel Smith, principal criminologist at the Australian Institute of Criminology said the concept of a "computer drivers licence" should be taken seriously as an option for combating internet-related crime.
... are police gonna enter your home and approach you at your desk as ask to see your license? Oh ... and we all know how horrible the government does at running the DMV, so why wouldn't they be horrible at running this? I think it's a stupid idea ... and not practical.
I assume you then creating a version of the DMV (perhaps the Department of Internet Access) and they would give you your computer driver's test, and internet drivers licensee, and you'd have to renew it every so many years, bla bla bla. Not to mention the fact that it would be impossible to enforce
Classic example of trading freedom for "security", I can only hope this is not put through. This could also severely restrict younger peoples (legal) access to the internet, narrowing their horizons drastically.
Good sigs are hard to think of, bad sigs are a waste of time, that is why I invented, this lousy rhyme.
Techies have been joking about this for many decades.
Realistically though, we all know it's about as likely as needing a license to read or talk.
I find it hard to believe anyone is actually wanting such a concept to become law. What's next, a license for sex?
Honestly if this were like a drivers license test where even senior citizen's were taught basic computer skill's and had to pass a basic exam to purchase a computer, it would probably cut down on the number of zombies in botnets. It would guarantee that even the most technophobic in our society had the basic skills to protect himself and others. You can do alot of damage if your computer is taken over or hacked without your knowledge.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Shouldn't "better technology solutions" be secondary to education???
"There ought to be limits to freedom." -George W. Bush
Dear Australia:
1. Get a hardware firewall and configure it properly.
2. Don't open unexpected attachments, even if you're trying to help because those strata minutes must have been sent to you by mistake and you should read them to find out who to send them to.
3. Don't click the banners.
4. No, it's not true. Don't forward the email.
5. If a computer asks you for information, lie.
6. It's not your bank. It's NEVER your bank. It's also never paypal, amazon, your ISP, or the police.
Love,
1999.
---
ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
Security advisor crits idiot internet lusers for OVER 9000!
I can't say this would be such a bad thing, but would a license really help? It would mean phishers/scammers/spammers/hackers would have to begin using more sophisticated methods because the average user is more knowledgeable.
Yes, I am actually advocating having a large amount of idiot internet users because.. well, because those chumps are stupid and take the bait, the internet is nice if you know what you're doing since the hackers don't have to try that hard.
I can understand where they are coming from, but they are going to implement it wrong. (with the heavy-handed license approach) Rather, I think that computer literacy should be something that should be taught in school along with reading and math, since computer skills essential in this day and age. The class shouldn't be about how to use popular software, (although covering operating systems besides Windows would be a plus) but should cover basic skills instead. People need to learn why they shouldn't click the "greetingcard.exe" attachment in their email inbox or why it is a bad idea to share too much personal information online. People don't always pick on stuff like that by themselves, so it has to be taught.
"It is a denial of justice not to stretch out a helping hand to the fallen; that is the common right of humanity."
Oh, wait. Safety devices make us all safer. Damn, I was so close.
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
This is either going to exclude a large percentage of the population from using an essential communications medium or it will be completely meaningless. The spread is wider than between a driver's ed student and a Formula 1 driver, and they're all on the same network.
exactly- like the learn to fix a car requirement we have in the US. This keeps women and illiterates from driving to make for a safer economy... Now all we have to do is label each car part with a multisyllabel word and add a pink star.
They should put that on billboards and every other kind of public service announcement all over the world. Not that it would work particularly well, but over time it might. Like the gradual reduction of smoking in the US.
As you can see, I inspired the guy... LOL
http://www.twilightcampaign.net/index.php/topic,68.msg105.html#msg105
Seriously thought when i mentioned such an idea everybody accused me of being a facist.
After driver's licenses were mandated in the US, since then, there have been more and more laws added to the books which bring the revenue rolling into municipalities. Laws that don't make sense, but yet if violated bring in the cash in fines.
We can expect the same thing, once people are forced to be licensed, it means more fines and more regulations onto legitimate people. It will mean more ways to regulate, censor, and jail citizens.
Of course, the malware writers and black hats will not be affected in the slightest.
With any other country I'd be prepared to laugh it off, but the current Australian government is stupid, technologically ignorant and authoritarian enough to try this.
They're pushing for enough control of the internet as it is, a license to communicate in the first place is just begging for abuse.
5. If a computer asks you for information, lie.
It is hard to stress the importance of this one enough. It boggles me that there are people who would hand their real information out for no reason.
What's next, a license for sex?
Sadly, that actually makes more sense in this day and age of incurable STDs. The license states clearly when your last test was done and which (if any) STDs you have.
That should actually be welcome news to the average slashdotter who rarely ventures from his mother's basement - you're now a highly prized date. And even better news to Americans who would now have grounds to sue if they caught an STD from having sex with someone who showed a clean license.
We had one in detroit that was put up Illegally. It said, "If it wasn't for HR stopping us, I.T. would have killed most of you by now."
It was up in spraypaint off of 696 in Oct of 2006 for nearly 2 weeks. I loved it.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Seriously... just licensing the user won't do any good if their PC is already infected.
We need mandatory periodic inspections of workstation PCs. Every 30 days, the user should have to upload an antivirus report that indicates 8 things to keep their "PC break tag" current, and loss of currency means the PC will be illegal to operate, and law enforcement will be sent to collect the errant workstation:
7. No, you didn't win the Nigerian lottery.
I'd rather you rationally disagree than irrationally agree.
Well, you gotta be 18 to vote, but thats it. How about providing a secure system and a software to control viruses ? It will always be a work in progress, the fight against viruses but to ask for license is giving wayy too much power in the hands of authority. How can this be misused ? I can think of a few examples - They could use this license as some form of ID and then track people habits !! - Selectively grant access to a certain group of people only. H1B visa holders do not get internet access in the US. !! and many more abuses
Experts have called for the introduction of a mandatory license for ownership of Dihydrogen Monoxide, citing its common usage in the illegal manufacturing of most controlled substances.
weinersmith
People are licensed to do things when carrying out an activity that poses a threat to the safety and well being of others, yes? The entire point of licensing is to keep some people from doing something. I don't think there is a convincing case to be made that some other person becoming the victim of fraud puts anyone else in danger. This seems like a proposal for the government to arbitrarily limit people's actions, a gross trespass of liberty.
Although, this would also identify every internet user, so perhaps the intentions of the people who back this idea are far more sinister still.
If you're going to protect people from other people on the net, it's easy: Make the first level responsible. If your machine is used to attack me, you're responsible - even if your machine was broken into in turn. Then require people to have insurance to handle the risk.
The insurance companies will spend the effort to find the risk profile, and if you do things to decrease your risk - like taking this kind of certificate - you'll get lower insurance. Basic economics then sort out how to get appropriate safety on the net.
There's a risk that you'll have problems with non-standard configurations etc, but I suspect that with competition in the marketplace that will only end up a little more expensive - or maybe even a little cheaper, if you deny insuring Windows people.
Eivind.
Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.
Is this so different from licensing people to read books?
There's plenty of dangerous information in your local library that can be used for nefarious means...
"Russel Smith, one of Australia's principal criminologists, is pushing for first-time computer users to be required to earn a license"
"He said that education was secondary to better technology solutions."
I know, I know, I must be new here... Sounds like Russel Smith is saying maybe it's worth considering in the future, once better technology is in place. Which in my book is different to "pushing" for it. To be fair the original article was a bit sensationalist about this but on this occasion the user's submission to Slashdot appears not to have been - it's the editor commentary that misleads slightly and makes it all sound very melodramatic.
It makes for a "better" story but not better journalism.
Wow, I really must be new here.
"Russel Smith, principal idiot at the Australian Institute of Morons said the concept of a "computer drivers licence" should be taken seriously as an option for combating internet-related crime." (Well OK, maybe it's not an exact quote).
You know, a lot of inappropriate material goes down toilets into the sewage system, and which then subsequently has to be expunged from the system, at the expense of the taxpayers, or the environment.
Isn't a license to flush toilets needed to curb these abuses?
first-time users of computers should have to earn a licence to surf the web.
Because first time users are major responsible for ciber-crime.
... There's been some discussion in Europe about the use of what's called a computer drivers licence - where you have a standard set of skills people should learn before they start using computers," Dr Smith told iTnews.
Becouse it's users that do not knowing how to browse the web responsible for computer crime.
"At the moment we have drivers licences for cars, and cars are very dangerous machines. Computers are also quite dangerous in the way that they can make people vulnerable to fraud.
This guy actually made this analogy. WTF???
"I think at the starting point of it you need manufacturers of both hardware and software to devise technology that makes it difficult or impossible for people to be defrauded," Dr Smith said.
'Dr Smith also said that Australia's banks were "being kind" when they bore the costs of cyber crime.'
Reminds me of this (Mitchell and Webb comedy sketch on identity theft): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9ptA3Ya9E
Key quote from that sketch: 'I'm not clear why you think it's my identity that was stolen, rather than *your* money'
Because obviously we have already done that for telephones.
You know, my drivers license doesn't protect me from the so called 'auto' criminals. It doesn't certify that I will not purchase products that are unsafe or illegal. Nor does it guarantee I will not be taken advantage of by so called 'auto' security experts, 'auto' technicians, or other unscrupulous parties.
Will an operators license for my computer insure I won't crash into someone? Or that I at least know how to not crash into someone on the information super highway?
If the incompetence of some of the drivers I see on the roads is any indication, I doubt an internet license will ultimately be very effective either in many cases.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable/98
7b. Nor did you inherit millions of dollars from any Nigerians. Note that you are white and do not have any friends, relatives, acquaintances, colleagues, or coworkers in Nigeria.
The ACS (Australian Computing Society) is considered a joke by the majority of computer professionals. A few of years ago (it may have changed) it was run by a lawyer and a recruiter. They approached Helen Coonan - the minister responsible - with the idea that every computer professional should be registered with the ACS *BY LAW* just like Doctors. Coonan being a politician didn't know any better and endorsed the idea.
"The Australian" - a national broadsheet newspaper - ran the story and there was an outcry from computer professionals who wanted nothing to do with the ACS. They had enough letters they took a whole page and made the story bigger, and more the next week. But being a Rupert Murdoch publication, on the third week they paid for a half-page ad and in the newspaper, a sympathetic editorial appeared and the criticism stopped.
The ACS does nothing. It's nothing like the ACM or IEEE which gives something of value for their members. The ACS does nothing other than sell you an annual membership. The only people who join are n00bs who think it makes them pros. One such n00b who couldn't find a job called the ACS for help. They were amazed that someone would even bother to call them. They eventually added professional indemnity insurance (which some real unions/professional associations do) but the $10K a year coverage they offered is so low it doesn't meet contractors requirements.
And here the ACS is again. They can't sell to the people, so they sell to gullible politicians. But unless they can convince Rudd to pay for it with stimulus money, their plan is doomed because there is no way people will pay for it out of their own pocket. (Yeah, same thing, but you know what I mean.)
Getting asked for personal information doesn't motivate me to lie, it motivates me to close the browser tab, click the continue button, or if all else fails, kill the process.
Sadly, something like this is probably inevitable. All it will take is a handful of cyber-attacks that actually harm the average Joe in a way that he can easily see, like taking out the local cable service.
Just because you are paranoid does not mean that no-one is out to get you.
Seriously, anything to keep the jack-off spackers off the net is a bonus.
Dear Sir,
REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
First, I must solicit your strictest confidence in this transaction. This is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential and 'top secret'. You have been recommended by an associate who assured me in confidence of your ability and reliability to prosecute a transaction of great magnitudeinvolving a pending business transaction requiring maximum confidence. We are top officials of the Federal Government Contract Review Panel who are interested in importation of goods into our country with funds which are presently trapped in Nigeria. In order to commence this business we solicit your assistance to enable us transfer into your account the said trapped funds.
The source of this fund is as follows: During the last Military Regime here in Nigeria, the Government officials set up companies and awarded themselves contracts which were grossly over- invoiced in various ministries. The present government set up a Contract Review Panel and we have identified a lot of inflated contract funds which are presently floating in the Central Bank Of Nigeria ready for payment. However, by virtue of our position as civil servants and members of this panel, we cannot acquire this money in our names. I have therefore, been delegated by my other colleagues in the panel to look for an overseas partner into whose account we would transfer the sum of US$21,500,000.00 [Twenty-One Million, Five Hundred Thousand U.S Dollars]
Hence we are writing you this letter.
We have agreed to share the money thus:
1. 20% for the account owner you
2. 70% for us [ Myself and other members of my panel ]
3. 10% to be used in settling taxation and all local and foreign expenses direct or incidental to the execution of this transaction.
It is from the 70% that we wish to commence the importation business. Please, note that this transaction is 100% safe and we hope to commence the transfer latest Ten (10) banking days from the date of the receipt of the following information, company's name, Address, Telephone and Fax number.
The above information will enable us write letters of claim and job description respectively. This way we will use your company's name to apply for payment and re-award the contract in your company's name. We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit your confidentiality in this transaction.
Please acknowledge the receipt of this letter using the above Email address.
I will bring you into the complete picture of this pending project when I have heard from you.
Remember this is a Deal so treat with utmost confidentiality.
Yours faithfully,
DR. YABRIL OMOTAYO
According to some stats found via google, australia has about 15 million computer users.
According to some aussie goverment site a drivers licence costs about 100$ in fees, and 100$ each year for renewal.
OTOH it only buys you 1% of a Bank of America, so maybe we should make up some other fees too, how about a CPU Fan rotation speed based environmental preservation fee or stuff....
The ACS has a sweetheart deal negotiated with a clueless former government. Any computer professional coming to Oz needs to pay the ACS $$$ to write them a letter saying "The applicant is a programmer who can get work here." The ACS has a monopoly on this. No other organization is allowed to write these letters. And on migrating the applicant has to become a member of the ACS.
I know one programmer who migrated under this scheme. Second year he kept his ACS membership fee and instead he and his family rented a beach house for a week with the money. Much better value was his conclusion.
Dear America:
1. We are trying to get a firewall. We really only need one though, at the edge of our internet. This will save costs and administration hassles by passing responsibility for managing the firewall and the safety of Australians to the government. Although last time this idea was posted on slashdot you called the originator the, and I quote "Internet Villain of the Year". Make up your mind.
2. I'm not sure about Americans, but when I get send a link with naked pictures of hot celebrities, I check it out. Who wouldn't want to see Britney Spears Naked
3. It's good to know that you americans can afford your iPods. I can't. I will keep trying to get a free one.
4. What does funny videos of soccer players scoring own goals have to do with safety?
5. But what if it's my bank?
6. But what if it IS my bank?
Love,
Australia,
- This post was brought to you by the STORM botnet.
The ACS is considered a huge joke by most of the computer industry here is oz.
They want to be seen as 'experts' but come up with stupid ides that make them look foolish.
I personally decided that it was a better investment to join the IEEE and ACM than join the jokers at ACS.
While cars can be used metaphorically to explain most anything, the fundamentals of using a computer and the internet are not enough to safeguard anyone.
_
Once you learn to drive, those fundamentals don't really change from car to car year to year. Sure there are manual and automatic transmissions, but the basic mechanics of what you're doing to operate the vehicle safely is fairly constant.
_
The 'crucial knowledge' necessary to navigate the internet safely and with as little risk to your computer/files/identity as possible changes every day. The basics of network security stay roughly the same in principal, but the methods used both by you - to protect yourself, and by them - to compromise your security are fast changing.
_
Teaching fundamentals is very helpful but getting people to stay up to date with technical information is not very easy or likely. Not only that, but it involves paying attention and not clicking Yes to any and every question that your computer asks you. When people fill their computer full of virii and ask me how to avoid this in the future... I'll tell them about noscript. It sounds good to them at first, but once I get to the part about clicking 'allow' for each site/domain they trust I'm often met with a blank stare or look of disbelief. They can't be bothered to think and click every time they visit a new website, they're too busy getting out of the maze of popups that keep reproducing. Even the ones that take the initiative to install it click 'allow scripts globally' within a week or two.
Oh yes.. And these checks could be done for a reasonable fee in home by licensed and bonded computer technicians (from my company, in the friendly bright red trucks!). A backup could be initiated at the same time. Just call 555-1212 and we will be right over. $52.30 a Visit, or $500 for the yearly subscription.
I don't know more than a bit about Australian politics, but I'm thinking this proposal is outside the realm of the realistically-possible-to-pass. However, if it did, I smell a massive civil disobedience campaign in the Land Down Under's future.
Property is theft.
The Australian Computer Society is an self-serving, unrepresentative old boy's network; I'm surprised they haven't died out yet along with the other dinosaurs. I was a member for a year or so when I graduated in the early 90's; I found them to be arrogant, pompous, elitist (if you're a member, you can put "Professional" on your business card!) and frankly worthless as a "professional organisation". SAGE-AU is far more worthy of that title.
Once the government gains the power to grant a license, it has the power to take away the license. Then, people start censoring themselves. (if I say the wrong thing on the internet, they'll take away my license.) I have to give my SSN every year just to get a license to fish, and the little machine checks into a state database before it will print out the license. It sure leaves no doubt as to who is the serf and who is the landed gentry in this relationship. Similar things would happen with an internet license, but worse.
Using the bag of components provided, assemble your computer. Q: Does it work? A: Yes - you have passed, enjoy the internet. No - you have failed.
Dear Australia:
1. Get a hardware firewall and configure it properly.
The governments already working on that.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
Oh, Jaaaaaack, I see you've moved to the land down under.
Have fun, but they may not be as tolerant of your rude behavior as us 'mericans.
7. your Penis will NEVER get bigger.
Sure, let the drunk asshats drive around the country without restriction after chugging down who knows how much beer.... but lord help us all if a nerd on a computer gets behind the keyboard of a computer WITHOUT a license!!
Seems like it would be smarter to require Australian politicians to hold a license (granted by the public, of course) to be a flippin politician or lawyer!
I am open source, and Linux baby!
I'd probably add four more to round out the list just for sanity reasons:
7: Learn what backing up a computer means. It does not mean shoving it as far to the wall as it will go. Every modern mainstream OS out there has a really easy way to back it up. And I mean really easy. As in plug in an external USB drive, click the program, let it do the rest of the work. One might have to set up a schedule, but that is it for difficulty. These days, basic backing up isn't hard. Backup and Restore in Windows 7 and Vista, Windows Server Backup, and Time Machine takes zero effort to set up to get working with an external drive. For more options, a third party utility like Retrospect, Carbon Copy Cloner, bru (if on UNIX), TrueImage, Backup Exec, Networker, or TSM can do virtually anything one would want with a backup program.
8: FileVault, TrueCrypt, and dm_crypt [1] are free utilities either bundled with the OS, or easily downloaded. Bitlocker is free with some editions of Vista and Windows 7, and free with Windows Server 2008. Encrypt your stuff so that stolen hardware can be written off as lost hardware, not lost hardware and stolen data. There is also security software available for USB flash drives, so someone can't steal your term paper or Quicken bank account records. If you are blessed with Enterprise or Ultimate editions of Windows 7, BitLocker To Go is a no brainer. TrueCrypt is good, so it OS X's encrypted disk images. On the UNIX side, one can use CFS (or a variant), or encrypt an image via a mounted loopback system. There is no excuse to not encrypt information on potentially losable media. Trust me, you sleep better at night knowing that the USB flash drive you left on the table right by the vend a goat machine won't be able to be used by someone you really don't like about your Facebook habits.
9: No, "swordfish", "hunter2", or "12345" on the luggage are not good passwords. For passwords that actually might stand up to someone guessing, there are many websites on how to make and remember passwords that cannot be brute forced on a blackhat's netbook in seconds.
10: No, the sexy talking person of the opposite gender that mailed you that wants your attention is in reality a blackhat in another country, 300 pounds, hasn't bathed in several days, has more zits on a face than a pizza with everything on it, and just wants from you the contents of your bank account and your credit score so he can buy more WoW accounts on the black market to farm gold with.
[1]: All major Linux releases have encrypted filesystem support available on install. On a laptop, it is foolish not to use this.
Since most of the home computers on the net are operated by ignorant (at best), stupid, and/or delusional people (else why would so many of them be part of 'bot nets and be picking up other malware?), why not a real license, like a European, NOT US, driving license. After all, their lack of competence impacts all of us, just as incompetent driving does.
Demonstrate competence to set up and run a properly secured computer on the 'net, or pay someone else to do it, as a chauffeur or taxi driver. The equivalent of public transportation would be at libraries.
I called this years ago! There's no way the big boys are going to let this powerful media go uncontrolled. Soon you will need a license to run a server, a web page, everything. Every packet will carry a crypto license from an authority - routers will have hardware to check it - by law! Coming soon!
Some people should get license of sanity before allowing them to make public suggestions.
Identity theft is a misleading term for bank fraud, and fighting it is the banks' responsibility, not the government's or the user's. We know how to do it, it just isn't getting done because of cost. Monetary transactions should be done with dedicated devices so that compromised computers can't be used to steal money. Reducing the number of compromised computers won't help because there are many of them and it only takes a few.
If they simply HAVE to do SOMETHING about this "problem" then might I suggest incentivizing basic computer knowledge as such:
1. Optionally attach a basic computer literacy "certification" to your written drivers test which is renewed at the same place and time (license is imprinted with a symbol similar to the organ donor stuff). Leave the price of the ID / License the same.
2. Government $5-10 dollar tax break for persons acquiring the literacy certification with an equal portion donated to a public fund in charge of supplying our most underfunded public schools with updated computer equipment purchased from used corporate leased equipment (this would be a public bid by hardware vendors for the contracts) with an option to donate your $5-10 credit to the same.
ISP's could be compelled to give customers with this marking a small discount on their service since they will be a slightly lower risk than others.
If enough people got the certification I just HAVE to think that the net effect of a more educated society would have some cost savings SOMEWHERE in the economy the same way that drivers licenses have most certainly prevented or reduced the number of fatal / expensive collisions on the road.
I'm not generally a proponent of bigger government, but if we HAD to do something and massively f-ing expensive and complicated shit like computing licenses is already on the table then I would take my above approach instead of the more Orwellian approach in the summary.
- Toast
Hello Big Brother Smith...
Leet. E Leet.
Say hello to my little sig.
Cellphone has: CPU
Computer has: input pad (keyboard)
Cellphone has: input pad (numbers and associated buttons)
Computer has: video screen
Cellphone has: video screen
Computer has: audio out to a jack or speaker
Cellphone has: audio out to a jack or speaker
Computer has: memory RAM
Cellphone has: memory RAM
Computer has: memory storage (HDD or SSD)
Cellphone has: memory storage (usually SSD)
So, given that a cellphone is, for most intention and purpose, fundamentally a fucking COMPUTER, are they going to make people get a license so they can operate it "safely"?
Dear Antipodean legislators considering this legislation:
I want you to know and understand very clearly that I, Ralph Spoilsport (owner and operator of Ralph Spoilsport Motors) think you are a complete and utterly pathetic pack of nimrods and all around stupid ass knuckleheads for letting such a notion get beyond the "gee, that's a dumb idea stage". By even considering this as a possible line of action puts you at the same level of the most knuckledragging retarded dipstick government reps normally only found in the Middle East or Red State America.
If you actually pass this legislation, I hope your arms swell up and drop off.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
That would have a much greater effect at making the world a better place
I wouldn't doubt that they eventually use that as an excuse. Some idiots should have a license to breathe (which I would promptly reject and make the punishment for violation death by anal rape).
Help fight spam
Seriously, when they sign up for "free websites" they give their real information INCLUDING their student ID number. Have you ever wondered why the government catches so many political dissidents? It's because they all give their addresses on the internet! It's the biggest wraught ever! Why should we be surprised Australia=China, our prime-minister's half Chinese.
Dr Smith also said that Australia's banks were "being kind" when they bore the costs of cyber crime.
No, they are simply taking advantage of their customers. Banks should be considered criminally negligent when their customers are victims of identify theft, since the technology to protect their customers exists and is not all that expensive, and the banks and their staff should be punished accordingly.
Russel Smith needs a new cozy home.
While I do agree with most of your post, I had to question this one aspect. The term/word passport is a modern one, the working concept of 'passports' is an old one dating back to at least 450 B.C. in the Persian Empire. Maybe even older for all we/I know. :-)
You are correct in stating that it was mostly a diplomatic status and to certify that status on an official basis until recently, but not a new concept.
This said, telling somebody from a law-enforcement agency that they don't need to see your identification is generally frowned upon as those in law enforcement love to be in charge and in control. A lack of ID puts the officer at a distinct disadvantage as they simply don't know how to react to a perfect stranger with no background as to who that person might be.
Yes, and yes.
However, in the USA(IIRC), unless you are operating a motor vehicle** on the gov't. owned roads, you have no legal obligation to show ID to law enforcement on demand.If they feel they have reason to arrest you, it is still their burden to establish who you are for booking you...no matter what tripe they try on you about how it is illegal to deny them your identity.(and they will try this!!!)
Because of all of the fscked laws enacted here in the USA, it can be a grey area and huge can of worms to sort out(see: vagrancy laws), but bottom line is you do not have to ID yourself by Fed. law(which trumps State law) unless you are served with a warrant.
Having said this, it is usually cheaper/easier to cooperate on the ID thing, but YMMV GREATLY!
Hint: check your Federal, State, and Local laws...do some research if it matters to you, and 'stick by yer guns!'
*disclaimer: IANAL*
**In the USA, almost all, if not all States require signing a waiver when you get your Driver's License to agree to show your ID when requested by a law enforcement officer when operating a motor vehicle on the public roadways-it is a requirement...no debate...it is a condition that must be met to keep your driver's license valid.(However, the passengers do not have this same onerous requirement most places, depending on circumstances...again, YMMV)
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Lack of sufficient data to compute....
What are you trying to say?
Define $OTHER_PARTY, and ruining the country.
Where is the '-5 hopelessly ambiguious/-5 delusional' mod?
Can you clear this up for the rest of the world outside of your Mom's basement, and your pea-sized brain?
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
quote>Theft, rape, and murder. This is why there are security guards.
The correct order is :
RAPE, PILLAGE, and BURN!
If you foul up the order/protocol, then it is you own mistake.
Turn in your geek/nerd card on the way out...don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.
*sheesh*
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
Maybe send it through email?
Works on electrical and pavement,. Makes me hold the Department of Motor Vehicles in that much more contempts for converting a lawful mode of movement into a privilege granted by an agency that doesn't have any standing other than regulate commerce on the same roads and have no jurisdiction on Right to Public Vehicular Travel.
Whoever modded you down should have their geek-card and creds revoked for failing to read and comprehend the DMV compiled for his or her state.
Does Australia not license criminologists? Failure to do so can result in all manner of self-promoting twits making claims about themselves in order to get listened to long when they rant. In the US this is often seen when private investigators can't make enough money at their primary occupation (installing home and car security systems) and start charging people to listen to them hold forth on anything they think they've wrapped their head around. What makes me draw that parallel is the fact that I see nothing on the AIC web site that says they have a "principal criminologist". Also, keep in mind we do license PIs, but that doesn't stop them from acting a fool in other areas, which seems to be the case here.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
You forgot: don't run Windows.
"education was secondary to better technology solutions" - was it a hearing or a sales pitch ? I think this quote say it all "The best AV product resides in the cerebral cortex", so start teaching some common sense in school or even better at home. Like you help your kids with homework, I think it is n execellent idea to help them surf safely. I don't care how much parental control sw you install, that is not going to teach anyone common sense or safe surfing.
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Murhpys law ? What an optimist
These so-called experts are years behind what we know in the field.
Yes, user education matters. A little.
For example, years ago when "Phishing" was the big buzzword of the day, research revealed that computer "dummies" were pretty bad at distinguishing those phishing mails that came through the filters from genuine stuff. But security experts didn't score much better.
We could certainly wish for a beginner's course to teach people some Netiquette, and tell them that it's a big, bad world out there and stop crying if not everyone works the way you want it, and that that's not because of the technology but because there's a lot of humans sitting on the other side.
But from a security POV, it hardly matters. Give the bucks to lawyers so they can write up some software quality requirement laws and software product liability laws. You'll do ten times as much good.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
I want to be on what ever this guy is on. As an alternative, people could stop using Windows Bot.NET
Parent is not offtopic.
I can see it now:
You need a license to operate that cell phone.
You need a license to operate that graphing calculator.
You need a license to operate that blow-up doll, it does run linux and tweets an orgasm with an ardino chip.
Trying to install linux on my microwave, but keep getting a kernel panic...
Lots of businesses and institutions are public by nature but have a brain fart when trying to deal with it.
How difficult would it have been to give the guy a temporary ID or to simply ask what his business on the place was and then corroborate his history, before herding him to the "security office"?
The security officers of any institution are in many instances the public face of that institution.
Which kind of face do you want to present to the public? The illogically paranoid one?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
.... officially you don't need a passport to leave most countries.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
The more the internet is popular, the more idiots and internet analfabets join the global network, the more will internet look like Wild West. A lot of people don't know the basic security measures and practice for safely living on the web. For example, a local shop got their only web-connected computer infected with Conficker and God-knows-whatnot. They use it for browsing the web and interaction with the bank. Besides that, they use it for printing the customer pictures inserting the customer USB keys into it. The AV can't update itself, WinXP limps, but it still works. I warned them I should fix their computer ASAP because it threatens their banking account, prolly infects customers USB key etc... They agreed with me, but they really can't afford the downtime eventhough I promised them I would make sure the downtime would be minimal. After two months the owner still didn't contact me, although he's 3 meters away from where I work. I would ban the access to the internet for that kind of people if you ask me.
Ceterum censeo Microsoft esse delendam.
But there must be synchronicity in the air. A couple weeks ago I did the tag along to Best Buy to give my punditry on which laptop I'd choose and I jokingly told her the same thing. That every new user should be required to learn _not_ to download that neat free Windows screensaver, that the email from her bank isn't, and she should take bread from the mouths of Geek Squad by learning to do her own bare metal to a USB drive (oh, on a solstice?) and the like.
Phone this in as a nomination for the Friday F---wit.
Athy, athier, athiest.
Nah, we should email it to everyone in our address books and importune them to pass it on.
Athy, athier, athiest.
As a new employee @ the World Bank, you have to take a class to get certified before being issued an office phone. While on the outside, this looks like a responsible training practice, on the inside it seems to be establishment of control and an insult to one's intelligence, especially since this agency hires quite a few PhDs'. Nanny-state agencies and government bodies love these kinds of ideas, while a rational business person does not. If they did, Banks would require licenses to use ATMs.
I think therefore I can't be ~TTNH
One word: Botnets. If everyone that used a computer on the internet was educated in how to avoid downloading malicious software, how to recognize when their computer may be infected, and how to remove said malware, we could put a major dent in the proliferation of botnets, which I think everyone will agree are one of the prime real threats to global cybersecurity today.
Remember: it may take one hacker to program a botnet, but its takes thousands of ignorant people to run one. A little required education could go a long way. The exact implementation of a "computer licence" may need some work, but there are some real possible benefits.
It kills me how people declare themselves experts.
It seems like no one here has heard of ham radio licenses. Check out one of the license study manuals sometime to get an idea of what such a process could conceivably look like. Ham radio is now pretty mature compared to "amateur computing", but the license requirements, if I recall correctly, were intended to raise the level of competency within the ranks of radio hobbyists. Don't forget that back in the day, ham operators would be up late at night in the attic or the basement exchanging cryptic technical messages with similarly inclined souls all over the world. Does that sound familiar? Just a few months ago here in Santa Clara Valley some deliberate fiber optic sabotage took out land line phones, cell phone service (the back haul routes were blocked), internet service and of course 911 service for quite a large pool of users. Ham radio club volunteers provided point to point communication services to augment emergency agency radio services. That doesn't mean that computer licensing is necessarily a good idea, but it would be nice to see the debate center around analogies that are actually relevant in the technical arena.
That's fucking awesome. Got any pictures of that?
kurzweil_freak
5th Kyu Genbukan Ninpo/KJJR student
Be the darkness that allows the light to shine.
Europeans have developed this "Americans are dumb" paradigm
+
There's nothing more idiotic (or dangerous) than a person stereotyping a group of people.
= ?
"Speeding" tickets, as the logical next step in net-non-neutrality.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
As someone who has worked as a computer technition I think this is terrible!! 90% of my jobs were due to the stupidity of the user, if they become computer literate then I would surly loose my job!