I am usually very skeptical of any thing that remotely resembles a conspiracy. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
The Orwellian concept of big brother has become real to the point of being perfectly acceptable in our own homes with TV shows like 'Person of Interest' and your pick of Reality TV. In many ways this is great and not nearly as scary as the vision of 1984.
In 2010 the Stuxnet worm was discovered. This was a computer worm with a very specific target. The payload was a rootkit for Siemens SCADA controllers running the nuclear facilities in Iran. It is accepted that the worm was developed by the Americans and Israelis to hamper Iran's nuclear aspirations. This is the first instance of a government or governments using cyber warfare against another country. This is also the first instance of a piece of malware spread via Microsoft Windows and the internet targeting a Programmable Logic Controller. You can see a good TED Talk by Ralph Langner on Stuxnet.
Add to this the report from the "Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property" that is actively seeking changes to legislation to allow companies to take extreme action against hackers and pirates to include; "... photographing the hacker using his own system’s camera, implanting malware in the hacker’s network, or even physically disabling or destroying the hacker’s own computer or network." The report is available for download on the commission's own site and is commented on briefly here.
Even the Canadians want in on the act. This is not a new idea though, Sony had their own rootkit issues a short while ago.
The New Xbox One about to be launched will place a camera and microphone in your living room that is always on. As gestures and voice replace the old fashioned 'clicker' or remote, the camera and microphone will remain on 24/7 to ensure the Xbox can respond when you call on it. This sounds great in a geeky sort of way, but when you add to that the requirement that the Internet connection is always available this starts to get more than a little creepy. Aways on Internet, Video and Microphone in my living room, really? You can read a bit about this in this Erik Kain article at Forbes. The Internet is supposedly required because Microsoft wants to eliminate the second hand games market, but that is a whole different rabbit hole. Microsoft would have us believe that the new Xbox is all about TV, Sports and Call of Duty.
Consider the potential for Hollywood to bill you licence fees because the Xbox camera caught your movie night when you and twenty of your mates crammed into the living room to watch a movie together. The always on microphone can report what you are saying and watching at home. do I really need to spell out the gaping pitfalls here?
The voices that would say 'our government is above these sorts of tactics and we have nothing to fear' need to ask themselves if these methods were available, could they not be exploited by anyone? Nothing will be exempt. An article in the Washington Post serves to highlight just how shaky this house of cards is. Do you trust a foreign government? Do you trust a media mogul.
The effect of one of these pieces of implanted malware disabling or destroying the "hacker's" own system when it is a false positive could be mindblowing not to mention the abuse of privacy to a user at home. What if that was a user in an office or on a wider company intranet.
Historically lawmakers have taken their time drafting legislation. This was expected to ensure that we do not fall foul to the unintended consequences of those laws.
In this digital age, technology advances at an astounding pace. These advancements make it easy to pirate software and download the latest episode of Game of Thrones without a second thought as to the copyright holders rights. Many people today are open about their illegal movie and music downloads. Arguments about the cost of the material being too high and wanting to stick it to 'the man' no longer wash.
There is an interesting phenomenon here. In medieval times, the feudal lord held the power and the uneducated peasant went about his business hoping that the feudal lord would not become too enamoured with one of his daughters or goats and take it for his own. The age of enlightenment has followed and the peasants now enjoy far higher education than ever before, but in this digital age, the peasants need to keep a very close watch or we will all once again be subservient to feudal lords.
One of the challenges of this new millennium is how the lawmakers can keep pace with technological advances. Uncle Ben said "With Great Power comes great responsibility" but the emperor said "Their feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side".
Edison carter said "Security Systems has its tendrils into every element of our society - the government, our homes, the police, the courts - I'm not gonna spike this story just because it deals with dollar amounts beyond your comprehension! It's too important!"
I would love to know what you think. Feel free to leave a comment.
Note: (added 11 June 2013) A follow-up to this is posted under PRISM, Snowden and Paranoia.
