Web Browsers Are Public Billboards!
Picture this;
Would you agree to have all your personal information put up on a public billboard? Obviously, you wouldn’t! You care too much about your security and privacy.
Let's assume billboard owners need that information there to be able to render certain crucial services to you.
What if the owners of the billboard told you the billboard would have a cover all the time and nobody could uncover it unless they had a special ladder? … and they also assured you that only you and them would have that ladder.
If someone really needed your information, they already know where it is and all they need is to get the ladder from you or the billboard owners. If they manage to steal the ladder, they’ll get all the information they need. They could also improvise their own ladders.
But you and the billboard owners can keep the ladder secure and ensure none of that happens.
That’s true, but the risk of the ladder falling into the wrong hands is always there.
That’s is what the web is today.
The web is like a public billboard, on which most people have plastered their personal information and protected it with passwords.
In our analogy above the ladder represents a password. Passwords can fall into the wrong hands or get bypassed.
Watch the video below to make more sense of the Billboard analogy.
So, if the web is a public billboard, why are we so comfortable doing our banking, transactions, shopping and confidential communication on it?
Internet; The Information Highway
The internet was at some point called “The Information Highway”. The name still fits.
There’s no doubt that the internet has been an amazing way of transporting information back and forth from one point to another. It is a marvelous system of information roadways.
Let’s switch to the physical world for a moment. We drive our cars on the highways hoping to get a specific destination. Typically, the highways help us move from one indoor space or building to another.
These indoor spaces are, in most cases, our safe-havens. That’s where we feel at ease. It is where we let our guards down. It is where we keep our valuables.
Why is the case different when it comes to the web? Where are the safe building and indoor spaces within the web? Why are we comfortable leaving our valuable information on internet highways?
Dan Kaminsky, the founder of and chief scientist at White Ops, said in a 2016 interview, “The Internet was never designed to be secure. The Internet was designed to move pictures of cats. We are very good at moving pictures of cats.”
But, he added, “we didn’t think you’d be moving trillions of dollars onto this. What are we going to do? And here’s the answer: Some of us got to go out and fix it.”
Mr. Kaminsky strongly opines that the industry has fallen far short of expectations because no one is doing anything to solve the security and privacy challenges.
In a 2016 keynote address at Black Hat, he said, “Everybody looks busy, but the house still burns.” He then went on to pitch his cyber equivalent of the Manhattan Project.
What Mr. Kaminsky is trying to say is, as long as we hold on to the assumption that everything about the web has to be outdoors, security and privacy concerns will always exist.
However, the idea of internet indoor spaces that play the same role buildings would in the physical world eliminates the need to reinvent the internet. The idea includes a bunch of things that start with identity.
The internet can be more than just outdoor billboards. We can create indoor spaces where you can do your work, shopping, and banking without having to constantly look over your shoulder. Online buildings can guarantee your security and privacy.
Visit www.whatisauthenticity.com to learn more about how internet indoor spaces can transform your experience on the web.