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First major attack of Cyberwar I

posted Jun 21, 2011 6:16 AM by Shane Harsch   [ updated Jun 21, 2011 7:21 AM ]
* Lulzsec captured the entire 2011 UK Census with all personal data. (
http://pastebin.com/K1nerhk0)
* Lulzsec denies it was them  (www.twitter.com/lulzsec) but acknowledges #AntiSec activity. That's what happens when anonymous fighters engage.

While I don't agree with their methods, governments and corporations have ignored real security for a very long time and this information has been at risk, and will likely continue to be until there is a sea-change with respect to security.

The likely response will be to "find those bastards", ignoring the fact that "finding those bastards" does not fix the problem. The cat, as they say, is out of the bag. 

<whine>"But security is hard!"</whine>

This is true -- it always has been. It's about meeting your responsibilities as a custodian of the information with which you have been entrusted. If you are not up to the task, do not put that information at risk. Whether on a personal level with respect to your banking information, on which your family depends, or a governmental level, on which your society depends. 

The thing is, we as a society know how to be secure. Individuals may not, just as many of us can't change our oil, or install a ceiling fan, or wire a house for electricity, but there are those who do - these are the roles we play. The leaders responsible for any initiative involving the care of sensitive information have ownership of this situation. They can choose to engage, make the necessary changes, fund them, and systematize them or they can continue to shout at the moon.

So, seriously, whose responsible this? We are - we who elect our representative government to do what needs to be done. This is now a priority, more important than continuing to debate issues that were decided by the Supreme Court 40 years ago. Society moves forward and this is the issue of a generation that will solidify the ability of our economy to advance and grow or collapse under its hubris.