Two really good examples of why you should not ingnore insider threats popped up this week in Florida (click HERE) and in France (click HERE).
When an employee feels threatened by the organization or their management, you have to expect that they will at least consider using whatever leverage they have at their disposal. So, it’s best not to give them the wrong kind of leverage.
A year or two ago I was attending a session presented by a businessman who grew up in South Africa. He drew an interesting parallel between the wild baboons from his native land and the counter-productive habits of many businesses today.
It just so happens that the South African baboons have taken a liking to the corn that local farmers grow there. Apparently, they organize raids on the cornfields on a frequent basis. The farmers obviously aren’t too pleased with this. Moreover, the baboons don’t manage their situation very intelligently.
With news that they are resurrecting the old Get Smart parody of the James Bond spy series in a new movie, I can’t wait to see what ridiculous and useless security measures they dream up. Some of you may remember Maxwell Smart walking purposefully down a long hallway during the opening theme, with a series of large doors opening before him until, at last, he gets to a room with nothing in it but a phone booth (click HERE). He turns around in time to watch as all the doors behind him close one after the other. He puts a few coins into the phone, makes a call and suddenly drops through the floor, and out of site.
This, apparently, is the only way into Control Headquarters. It always made me wonder how they take deliveries of office supplies and equipment…
The multiple secure doors are a great example of a zoning safeguard… except for the fact that, to be secure, each one has to close before the next one opens, so that nobody can “tailgate” without being detected or trapped. It’s this kind of subtle inconsistency that makes a safeguard that’s supposed to be secure into a bit of a joke.
Stephen J. Murdoch is a graduate student at Cambridge, and a prolific writer of papers regarding Internet security. He recently wrote article and article (click HERE) on censorship and shifting Internet borders. The piece reflects on how various jurisdictions have attempted to control or censor content deemed “offensive”, and how it has changed as the nature of the Internet has evolved. As with any conflict, each side adjusts to the other’s new tactics.
