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The news today often contains reports about cybersecurity breaches that steal our data or threaten our national security. The nation spends billions of dollars on cybersecurity measures, and yet we seem unable to get ahead of this problem. Why are our computers so hard to protect?
Recent experience with a house cat provided insights into the nature of this problem. I am allergic to cats. My daughter came home, cat in hand, for an extended stay, and I had to find a way of confining Pounce to a limited area. However, as many cat parents would have known — though I did not — this was doomed to be a losing battle.
Everything that I tried to confine Pounce worked for a little while but eventually failed as he found a way past my newest security barrier — just as hackers eventually find their way through the cybersecurity barriers erected to stop them.
I have the advantage of unlimited material resources compared to those available to the cat — I am presumably smarter than a cat, I have greater manual dexterity, and I’m a higher mammal who knows how to use tools. So why did I lose this battle so decisively?
Here are some of the cybersecurity lessons that became clear from my ordeal.
Recent experience with a house cat provided insights into the nature of this problem. I am allergic to cats. My daughter came home, cat in hand, for an extended stay, and I had to find a way of confining Pounce to a limited area. However, as many cat parents would have known — though I did not — this was doomed to be a losing battle.
Everything that I tried to confine Pounce worked for a little while but eventually failed as he found a way past my newest security barrier — just as hackers eventually find their way through the cybersecurity barriers erected to stop them.
I have the advantage of unlimited material resources compared to those available to the cat — I am presumably smarter than a cat, I have greater manual dexterity, and I’m a higher mammal who knows how to use tools. So why did I lose this battle so decisively?
Here are some of the cybersecurity lessons that became clear from my ordeal.