Before we can get to what the NetworkWorld article is all about, we need to reference a bit from a Wired piece that sets up the whole thing:
This is Cover Your Ass security, and unfortunately it's very common.This is exactly what we are seeing with the Homeland Security efforts in this country. And we had better start doing something about it. Here is what was suggested:
Airplane security seems to forever be looking backward. Pre-9/11, it was bombs, guns and knives. Then it was small blades and box cutters. Richard Reid tried to blow up a plane, and suddenly we all have to take off our shoes. And after last summer's liquid plot, we're stuck with a series of nonsensical bans on liquids and gels.
Once you think about this in terms of CYA, it starts to make sense. The Transportation Security Administration wants to be sure that if there's another airplane terrorist attack, it's not held responsible for letting it slip through. One year ago, no one could blame the TSA for not detecting liquids. But since everything seems obvious in hindsight, it's basic job preservation to defend against what the terrorists tried last time.
We saw this kind of CYA security when Boston and New York randomly checked bags on the subways after the London bombing, and when buildings started sprouting concrete barriers after the Oklahoma City bombing. We also see it in ineffective attempts to detect nuclear bombs; authorities employ CYA security against the media-driven threat so they can say "we tried."
At the same time, we're ignoring threat possibilities that don't make the news as much - against chemical plants, for example. But if there were ever an attack, that would change quickly.
So what might be done to better balance reality with the CYA instincts that we all possess to one degree or another?Well, talking about it is a good start...
Sure, those of us with soapboxes - Schneier, yours truly, and the zillion other journalists and bloggers out there - can rise up and speak clearly on the matter.
Let's break out the big guns: I'll wager that Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart would actually see eye-to-eye on this matter, as would the vast majority of their respective audiences. What if they each devoted a half-hour to topic, arm-in-arm? Stewart could still be funny and O'Reilly could do whatever it is he does. Great television and a public service.
You could help. Let your police and politicians know that you're sick and tired of all the butt-covering. You've had enough of policy by worst case scenario. You don't want pork-barrel homeland security even if that pork is landing in your leafy suburb, the one no terrorist could find with Google Maps.
We need to engage our politicians. We need to educate ourselves. We need to remember at election time that competence matters.
