The current state of our economic and global interconnectivity infrastructure relies heavily and in some cases solely on the adoption, use and services of technology today and for tomorrow. More and more we’re seeing the integration and use of technology in the home, school, places of learning and other institutions that confirms that our decency on these things are far from going away or over. Yet, unchecked, we’re still in a money making and financial gains mode when it comes to providing the education, awareness, knowledge of the convergence of technology and the World Wide Web for us as a people.
The ridiculous notion of our infrastructure being secured by over government or independent entities that limit partnerships and associations to only high levels, is a sure sign of the failure of the systems of security for tomorrow. Until and unless we unite in this fight against these issues and the growing trends by which they are being introduced, we will always be vulnerable by our weakest, untrained and not knowledgeable links (citizens, business, educators, advisors, technologists), . We are vulnerable through the process of omission, omitting those we think are not a critical part of the infrastructure or the need to help in securing it. The high costs of securing our infrastructure does not include user education and general awareness as a proactive move. It is only when something happens and the issues/problems are of a great magnitude/impact that we see the levels of attention and focus being put to it, then comes the irritating comments of if we had known or if we had acted sooner.
What will it take for us to give the needed attention and focus to these issues before they become problems?
When and where will we see the integration and coordination of all levels of society getting involved in this initiative?
Who can speak on all levels for all levels?
These are different times, different types of warfare, different types of attacks with more sophistication, more widespread impact and yet, still, we’re limiting the resources needed to endorse, support and finance these educational and awareness needs. We are falling behind in the fight to keep up with the demand of technology products and solutions because the hardware vendors mission to bring us the latest and greatest products with more feature rich functions, speed, storage and settings. This is one fight that by its very simplicity, involves our youths/children and those of early learning without even going outside their boundaries. The threats are looking for us, looking for vulnerabilities in our systems, looking for our private and personal information, looking for anything it can on and about us and our businesses, where we work and how we live.
Will you leave yourself vulnerable because you didn’t take the time to learn more about them or practice safe computing?
How do we address this on a global scale where the minds and concerns of our youths are addressed in regards to technology, privacy and securing them?
Who educates the educators and provides them with the needed resources to speak to the technology advancements being seen and felt in our society today within the classrooms?
Our youths are educating the educators, the parents and the more senior members of our society. While the adults and seniors are busy living their day to day lives, the youths have all this extra time on their hands to play with that makes that the perfect educational resource for tomorrow. Educating them about the internet and how technology integrates and affects our daily lives today and tomorrow will help them to be better netizens. There are too many unknowns into what is the most sophisticated and interconnected network every built and running.
We are too controlling over our youths without the right focus on these things. It is not about taking away the access or resources of the internet, it is about educating them more on its values, proper use and how to manage their online presence and identity. Social Networks, Social Media, personal and professional messaging ethic, etiquette, general internet usage and the Threats Landscape are all critical topics that should be integrated into our school systems curriculum today to allow these kinds of thoughts from an early age and stage of development. More funding and resources should be put into programs, groups, organizations that focus on these critical resources training for tomorrow. Our lower school educational systems are lacking the integration of technology, privacy, internet usage and protection training that suits our youths today. Youths are exposed and have access to these internet resources at home without proper education and awareness as to how to use and manage them until something happens and a life is taken or at stake and further investigation reveals that he/she had a secret life online that was very troubled and now this.
This is where our educational institutions should be filling in the gap and providing the additional focus and attention on these things. Engaging local subject matter experts, vendors, developers and other technology leaders to come in and give real world experience and open discussion is a critical need for our youths. Let us engage the youths in open dialog on and about technology, IT Security, privacy and other concerns they may have. Let us open up those channels of communications so they can be better served and ready for the superhighway ride ahead.
Let us not waste time in helping to foster the needed understanding, education and awareness needed for our youths as they have and are actively engaged in using them every day. What better way to put this knowledge craving to use than by helping them along the way.
IT Security is a people problem, not an industry one. We are all at risk.
Thank you and have a great day,
~Brett A. Scudder~
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