[Noisebridge-discuss] Fwd: [BerkTIPGlobal] Should we crowdsource malicious technology remediation? - oaklandfuturist.com

[giovanni_re]

----- Original message -----
From: "giovanni_re" <john_re at fastmail.us>
To: BTG <BerkTIPGlobal at googlegroups.com>
Subject: [BerkTIPGlobal] Should we crowdsource malicious technology
remediation? -  oaklandfuturist.com
Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:00:37 -0800

http://oaklandfuturist.com/crowdsource-malicious-technology-remediation/


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------
 Posted on January 21, 2013 by Scott Jackisch

Should we crowdsource malicious technology remediation?


 Technology cuts both ways Most powerful tools are like double-edged
 swords. Since information wants to be free, disruptive technologies
 that put huge powers into the hands of individuals are going to be
 difficult to control. We already see that in the computer world with
 botnets. A handful of hackers can literally control millions of
 infected machines at a time. Computer security is a mess right now, but
 there are some lessons to be learned in there somewhere. Notably these
 computer security problems are going to be bleeding into meatspace more
 and more as we haphazardly stick everything in sight on the internet
 and leave the default password.

But we are also going to see different sorts of asymmetrical attacks in
the future. Consider the scenario of bad actors using cheap autonomous
drones in malicious attacks against the public as Suarez describes in
Kill Decision (which is a good book, by the way.) Another scary attack
would be a bioweapon created in a home lab. Even citizen science could
be a double-edged sword. Instead of trying to blunt the sword, we should
take advantage of the fact that there are generally more benevolent
actors than malevolent ones in any given field. I don’t know if I am
ready to fully subscribe to the “intelligence implies benevolence” idea,
but it does seem to have some merit. After all, why mess around with
randomly terrorizing a bunch of people with disruptive tech when there
are so many more lucrative opportunities for intelligent sociopaths in
our society. Hmm, I might need to think that idea through more.

Nonetheless, we can certainly assume that there are numerous individuals
and groups currently working with cheap, widely available, dual-use
technology who could be considered benevolent. It’s inevitable that they
would argue amongst themselves about what benevolence actually means,
but I am sure they could form alliances along a spectrum from “drones
that invade privacy are bad, let’s interfere with them” to “eh, a little
involuntary genetic hacking isn’t going to kill you (as long as it
doesn’t actually kill you.)” I’m suggesting that these benevolent groups
should have coordination protocols so that they work together to help
directly address problems that arise. We should basically crowdsource
malicious technology remediation.


 OpenSource Citizen’s autonomous Drone security protocol I am pretty
 sure that something like an opensource citizen’s autonomous drone
 security protocol will be incredibly useful someday. The laws are
 loosening up on drones in US airspace. And since makers and hobbyists
 are already getting into autonomous drone building, there will be a
 natural user base to help counteract bad actors. Imagine a protocol
 that allows citizens to register their homemade drone which can be
 activated when a problem arises. It might be similar to the way people
 donate computer cycles to the folding at home project.

It might work like reddit where anyone (or designated spotters) can
create a post to report suspicious drone behavior. If enough reviewers
upvote this to confirm authenticity, then the protocol kicks in and all
citizen drones in the area that are registered with the protocol take to
the sky and execute some sort of swarm based target location algorithm.
Once the offending drone is located, it can be surveilled by reviewers
and then reported to authorities. One might even consider a more
aggressive protocol (with teeth) that provides a mechanism for the
citizen drones to disable or even destroy the offending drone.

Biohackers Unite! But consider the recent ban on H5N1 research that was
triggered by the development of bird flu strains that would be
transmissible between mammals. Maybe that particular ban worked and
maybe it didn’t. In computer security this approach might be called
security through obscurity and it is not considered super effective. It
seems that the coordinated network of labs worldwide that are currently
working together to identify and sequence diseases more and more rapidly
could be viewed as part of a more rigorous defense in depth strategy
against biological malware. Why couldn’t independent biohacker spaces
like BioCurious be linked into these networks or form networks of their
own to respond to problems? There are a lot of smart people out there
playing with this stuff.

Some of my friends have objected to this idea and think that a top-down
approach is better. They might suggest that drones should be banned,
etc. But my argument is that: first of all, good luck with enforcement,
and secondly only criminals would end up with drones then. I guess I
fall in with the gun advocates on that one. Ouch. The layers of defense
are fewer without citizen involvement and if the official defenders
screw up then we all get screwed. It’s hard for big organizations like
the US government to keep up with new tech (at least operationally, the
research side is good). Christ, they don’t even encrypt all their drone
video feeds yet. Hackerspaces on the ground are already hosting, toying
with, and breaking advanced tech. That’s where I saw my first 3D printer
for example. Hackerspaces represent a global asset that could be tapped
to help defend humanity from malicious actors.

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