Article: I'll decrypt the San Bernardino phone free of charge so Apple doesn't need to place a back door on its product
Published in: Business Insider
Author: John Mcaffee
Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/john-mcafee-ill-decrypt-san-bernardino-phone-for-free-2016-2
Summary:
Perhaps one of the greatest debates over privacy rights occurred over the last month. If you have not heard about Apple and the FBI lately here is a VERY brief breakdown:
The San Bernardino shooter was found with an Iphone after the shooting. The FBI has been in possession of the phone for months now, but claims they have not had any luck hacking into the phone because of Apple's security on the Iphone (the Iphone locks out after several attempts when using brute force attacks). The FBI has asked Apple to create a backdoor tool for the Iphone that will only be used "once". Tim Cook claims that there is no stopping the government from using this tool over and over again, it would be installing a backdoor to everyone who has an Iphone.
For the most part of the article, John Mcafee is criticizing the FBI's lack of competence in the global cyber security field. He highlights that for years, the US has been losing the battle of cybersecurity to China and Russia and this incident shows their ineffectiveness. He agrees with Tim Cook that the FBI is downplaying the backdoor. This backdoor installment would work for any iphone, and if Tim Cook gives in now the US government will be able to unlock anyone's phone they want in the name of the Patriot Act.
With all of that being said, John Mcafee says that this embarrassment for the FBI shows their complete incompetence in the cyber security field. In the article he says, "The fundamental question is this: Why can't the FBI crack the encryption on its own? It has the full resources of the best the US government can provide." Besides politics he claims that the FBI does not have good hackers. He claims that the best hackers in the world are, "24-inch purple mohawk, 10-gauge ear piercings, and a tattooed face who demands to smoke weed while working and won't work for less than a half-million dollars a year. But you bet your ass that the Chinese and Russians are hiring similar people with similar demands and have been for many years. It's why we are decades behind in the cyber race."
How this relates to class:
I thought that he highlights a great point in pointing out the US government is not hiring the best people for tech job in cyber security. The team he describes at coding competitions don't fit into the standard business model. When I read his description of coders, I thought, "this is exactly who would be working at TopCoder." This is interesting because it changes how we view the traditional business model of how workers and should look and act. Maybe, in the coding world, these are the people that are needed that the FBI won't hire? Maybe the new model for coders in the world needs to follow the more competition based approach that John Mcafee says he works with and TopCoder has been using.
In addition, we have discussed in class how many government jobs have an aging population that is about to retire. This means that inefficient government agencies, such as the FBI's cybersecurity sector will be needing a new workforce. This is going to be a huge culture shift for them from the older generation, to the millennial. If they want to hire the best in the business as Mcafee describes, there is going to be a culture change that they are not prepared for.
Importance to MIS Students:
I believe this is a very important point for the changing culture in the tech world. Technology has effected every part of business and is changing rapidly. The people that Mcafee describe are the type of people that companies like Google and Facebook are going to be wanting to hire because of their talents, not because of how they look or act. With an influx of these people, we are all going to see a change in the work culture at tech firms, but it appears to come out on top in the tech world, it is a necessary change. How far will this change go and how much will it change?
Tech Musing #2
ReplyDeleteName: Taylor Lorenson
Chicago School Board Elevates Computer Science to Graduation Requirement
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Chicago-School-Board-Elevates-Computer-Science-to-Graduation-Requirement-83167.html
Summary:
Last Wednesday, February 24th, the Chicago Board of Education unanimously voted to make computer science a mandatory requirement for all high school students. This new rule will apply to incoming freshman next year. Chicago schools have been nationally recognized for their efforts in implementing computer science education, largely due to Mayor Rahm Emanuel launching the “Computer Science for All” initiative. The Chicago Board of Education will work alongside Code.org to provide an effective curriculum and train teachers for teaching this new topic. With the addition of this new requirement, the Chicago Board of Education hopes to engage students in computer science at a young age, potentially opening more doors for career opportunities.
Relevance:
More and more organizations are looking for applicants with some sort of computer science background due to the massive technology movement we have seen in the past decade. Most schools have a program called STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education. The goal of this is to expose students to the non-traditional curriculum that most education systems have strictly followed for years. Since the introduction of the STEM program, there has been a spike in jobs relating to science, technology, engineering, and math. Chicago Public Schools estimates a job gap of one million openings in the computing skills field by 2024. If more students follow a career in computer science, it could result in a stronger economy, stronger work force, and a lower unemployment percentage.
Importance to MIS Professionals:
One of the more staggering statistics the Chicago Board of Education stated is that, “There were nearly 600,000 job openings in computing, universities produced fewer than 40,000 computer science graduates last year.” The 40,000 jobs that were filled represent less than 7% of the potential openings. All college students attend college with the goal of finding a career path, and computer sciences is one of the fastest growing fields. As current MIS students, this is significant in a number of ways. First of all, we have beaten the trend of learning the details of computer science before the large trend occurs. This gives us the upper hand in job searches compared to other students who have a weaker technology background. Second, the upcoming high school students that are required to study computer science will eventually enter the work force. If some of them were to join the same organizations as us, the learning curve will be less significant and the students will be more passionate about computers. This will result in an overall more enjoyable work environment, as well as produce more efficient and higher quality work.
I had heard about this and am quite excited about the initiative. Hopefully Chicago school districts will only be one of many. Here is the link to the Computer Science For All Initiative.
DeleteAustin, great article. Thanks for posting what John Mcaffee had to say on this topic. He's not the only one who espoused this view, but I liked that he wrote it, and was emphatic that if we don't deal with cybersecurity first, it won't matter that we break an iPhone (which they did recently with a "third party"). If they really cared, the FBI would devulge how they did it. But to do that would mean they couldn't get into other phones. Argh!
ReplyDelete