Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Is the World Better Or Worse Because of Security Tech?
Slashdot reader krisdickie is a developer for embedded devices (and many other systems), and spends a lot of time being proactive about security.
This is obviously important, and I don't necessarily see it as a distraction, but rather a complex problem that has some added thrill to being solved. I can't help but wonder though if I (and my team) would have been X times more productive or have come up with some amazing new concept or feature, if we didn't have to deal with implementing security measures.
In a utopian world, where there are no bad actors, we would have likely forfeited many of the systems and ideas that have been put into place to prevent bad things from happening. So my question is -- are we more technically advanced because of the thoughtfulness that has gone into creating these systems?
Or are we just losing precious resources and time dealing with the necessity of protecting ourselves from the perilous few?
Share your own thoughts in the comments. Is the world better or worse off because of our ongoing development of security tech?
In a utopian world, where there are no bad actors, we would have likely forfeited many of the systems and ideas that have been put into place to prevent bad things from happening. So my question is -- are we more technically advanced because of the thoughtfulness that has gone into creating these systems?
Or are we just losing precious resources and time dealing with the necessity of protecting ourselves from the perilous few?
Share your own thoughts in the comments. Is the world better or worse off because of our ongoing development of security tech?
Human 'bad actors' are only one source of adverse conditions for computing. Many security features double as stability and error-checking features. I think that the author's question is ultimately a silly one because of Hanlon's Razor - "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity". I think most people have seen terrifically destructive users who had no malicious intent behind their actions. Even in a utopia, humans are still human.