Hacking, Cyber Crimes, and passing costs onto an unsuspecting public
If you haven’t read the linked article below, please do. Here are my thoughts:
The Republican agenda has always been about passing costs and pocketing the cash. Rolling back regulations and safety requirements don’t really lower the cost. It only passes those costs on to the public.
I believe American’s, for the most part, want a society and life of ordinances, zoning laws, and other regulations which ultimately enhances our quality of life. Obviously, many conservatives can’t put all that together. They will point at other countries, in disgust, because the quality of life reflects the lack of such checks. Do they really believe, in absence of such, our country would be any different?
Trump wants to level the playing field in the name of jobs. Instead of looking toward raising the standard on our trading partners, they wish to apply the lower standard to our country. No reason our air should be any cleaner than Beijing’s if there is money to be had now. He and his fellow Republicans want to pass MORE costs.
To an extent, there are some discussions about this, to a degree. What isn’t as well understood, talked about, or even acknowledged is massive data breach are the result of passing the costs. I think as Democrats we need to make the points crystal clear.
In technology infancy “Big Blue” (IBM) had secure operating systems. Companies had Private Networks (yes, not Virtual). As the market broadened, costs started shifting.
Suddenly, Microsoft was eating Big Blue’s lunch. Why? Because it was flashy. Sexy. What it wasn’t, was secure. IBM couldn’t keep up. Maintaining a secure product was slow. Thus the “First to the Market” 90’s companies thrived. Bugs? Who cares if you have a blue screen of death several times a day? It’s cool!
Meanwhile, the muckety mucks learned about the internet. Then the world wide web came into sight. And what did they see? An internet backbone for communications. Almost Free (comparatively speaking). The birth of the Virtual Private Network. But let’s not call it a public utility. Too much money to be had. Thus, the (technical) house built on a foundation of sand.
Security wasn’t engineered into today’s technology. It was layered on and shoe-horned in. Meanwhile, a lot of people made a lot of money. Money that should have been used in production. Not creating staggering wealth for the few.
Think about it. Why should our electrical grid be attached to the internet and exposed/vulnerable to be hacked? Many proprietary networks are attached using what is basically public networks. Not interfacing with them, attached and using them as their own.
Bill Gates, the philanthropist, passes part of his wealth onto causes he wishes. In my opinion, he never should have been able to amass such wealth. To me, he and so many others swindled that money from us. Capitalism at its finest.
Of course, the problem didn’t originate with the technology. The few have acquired fortunes in this method throughout our history. I just don’t think it is as well understood or viewed the same in the technology sector. Now the wealthiest are more overt in scooping up even more of the wealth (tax cuts). Somehow they have convinced a gaggle of people the wealth is deserved and the trickling down is generosity.
Yet so many of that same gaggle aren’t capable of understanding their own advantages and opportunities just might be the result of their ancestors’ right to own private property. Oops, veering off topic….that’s another rant for another day.
The bottom line is I think more of the populous needs to understand these points. I think we need to focus on how to educate and open other’s eyes to how they are voting against their own interests.
Thank you for reading my long ramblings. Thank you even more if you add your thoughts to the post.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-energy/u-s-warns-public-about-attacks-on-energy-industrial-firms-idUSKBN1CQ0IN