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From bloodletting to pacemakers on the Internet

Sat, 03/15/2008 - 00:59 — freephile

it's deja-vu all over again

It occurred to me, as I listened to a news report this morning stating that modern gadgets such as cell phones and digital photo frames may contain viruses straight from the factory, that we are repeating a history that is more than 2,000 years old. Dating back to the age of Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC), continuing up until the late 19th century, physicians and patients believed that bloodletting would cure them of disease. Obviously now we know that bloodletting and leeches can't cure a virus.

Back to the present and computer virusues. The current belief is that lax quality control and perhaps even more deliberate plots by crackers[1] are the cause. This story really hasn't gained visibility in the mainstream media so we can't say what the response will be -- what will the 'experts' tell us to do? I imagine we'll see more of the same things we've seen in the past: Technology experts will tell you 'you better install and maintain an up-to-date anti-virus software'. Public officials will say 'we need more inspections'. Special interests will say 'you can't trust them', or worst of all our own government will tell us (in kinder, more subtle language) 'the American people need to give blanket powers of espionage and imprisonment to our government in order to protect our national security'. I don't agree with any of these solutions. Anti-virus software hasn't worked [2]. Closer scrutiny of foreign companies (protectionism) is blaming and fighting instead of working together. No amount of government espionage can prevent computer viruses. (Ask yourself: Can spying can prevent the flu?)

The flu has been really bad this year, and anyone can catch it. As a society and as individuals, we do what we can to prevent or minimize outbreaks. But to the average person who hasn't even heard of the possibility of catching computer viruses, it would seem that there is nothing that needs to be done about computer viruses. However now would be a good time to do something -- before the situation escalates even further. Consider this: software and technology are pervasive and networked. Phones, cameras, cars, EZpay and medical devices such as pacemakers connect to the Internet. What if somebody hacked your pacemaker? Are medical devices immune to viruses? No, at least not without proper application of knowledgeable solutions and technology.

Address the root cause, no leeches needed

Attacking problems at the cause rather than at the symptoms is clearly a better way to cure those symptoms. Through understanding the cause and conditions necessary for an outcome to manifest in the first place, we can even change those environmental variables in a way to prevent problems. Anyone could walk down the street passing by somebody else with the flu. If you have a mask on your face, you might be less likely to catch the flu. If you have a flu shot, you're even more likely to avoid it. If the flu virus was completely understood and we could alter the conditions for it to exist or affect us, catching the flu would no longer be a problem at all.

We still have things to learn in science and medicine to make the world a better place. In terms of computer science, we are still at the dawn of computers but at the same time computer viruses happen because we have reached the point where software can reproduce itself, "in the wild". It is already time to work together to create a healthy computing environment. A LOT of people are doing just that. But we need more help. As a supporter of freedom in technology, I think the best thing we can do is to adopt free software such as Ubuntu and support patent reform initiatives (like this too). These are the ways that we can effectively prevent software viruses at the cause level.

If all this talk about viruses has you all itchy and panicked, rest assured that working openly, and together, to solve the issues is the proper strategy.

Additional info resources not mentioned above:

[1] Please note: the common usage of 'hacker' is completely opposite of what the word means to any computer professional. Hackers are the people who do good things with computers. Crackers are the people who do bad things with computers.
[2] As proof that you don't need it I haven't run anti-virus on my computer for the last 7 years and I have not had a single incident of virus, trojan or worm affecting my computer. I run Debian, Kubuntu, and Edubuntu flavors of Linux