Back to the Future

Part 3: Back to the Future

(Did you miss Part 1 and/or 2? Click here for part 1 and here for part 2 to catch up!)

I apologize for this, but I have to jump back to the beginning again. You see, the Internet was designed during the cold war, and a prime driver was the ability to sustain communication in the event of a nuclear attack. Back then, communication was usually point-to-point. DARPA and many smart people gave us “packet-switched networks.” It meant that a piece of data could flow through different paths and reassemble on the receiving side. This meant if communication hubs were taken out of service between you and where you were trying to communicate, due to, say, a nuclear bomb being dropped, your packets could now travel a different route and your Twitter post about the latte you purchased this morning would stick.

The lesson here is age-old; bolting on security after the fact is always more costly, time-consuming and less effective than baking it in from the start. The first email servers on the Internet were open relay by design. That meant anyone could send email through your email server to someone else. After all, the idea was sustained communications, so if my email server went down, why not use one of the other available email servers?

Unfortunately, as with many well-intentioned plans, it fails to account for bad people. Soon spam became a well-known term to define something other than the delicious food of previous association. Domain Name Services (which translates the web sites we type into IP addresses) is not secure. It has suffered from numerous attacks. The weakness of this core protocol has been known for a very long time and a secure DNS (DNSSEC) was proposed in 2005 via RFC 4033. You can go here to see how that has been going.

In general, the US Root DNS servers were operational in 2010. DNSSEC does not in any way totally fix DNS, as in recent months there has been a rash of DNS Amplification Denial of Services attacks. DNS is just one small area of vulnerability; the list of protocol weaknesses and associated attack vectors is legion.

In short, what we have put in place are insecure computing devices connected together using insecure protocols over a fabric connected to support some of our most critical dependencies and let anyone in the world – good or bad – have access to them.

I remember watching a video with one of the engineers that worked on the initial Internet design and protocols. He stated that, “If you would have told us that we would be putting critical infrastructure on a public network, we would have just laughed – that will never happen.” There was a completely different mindset back in those days. Business standards existed beyond the “want of the moment.” Thought was given to business risk, mostly driven top-down. Today, one could argue business risk is driven bottom-up and in the Information Security world, I would posit that 80-90% of InfoSec programs are driven in exactly that same direction.

About the Author

Martin Zinaich is the information security officer for the City of Tampa’s Technology and Innovation department. The insights in this article were shared at a Wisegate member event, where senior IT professionals discussed these pressing security issues.

Featured

  • Report Shows Cybercriminals Continue Pivot to Stealthier Tactics

    IBM recently released the 2025 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index highlighting that cybercriminals continued to pivot to stealthier tactics, with lower-profile credential theft spiking, while ransomware attacks on enterprises declined. IBM X-Force observed an 84% increase in emails delivering infostealers in 2024 compared to the prior year, a method threat actors relied heavily on to scale identity attacks. Read Now

  • 2025 Security LeadHER Conference Program Announced

    ASIS International and the Security Industry Association (SIA) – the leading membership associations for the security industry – have announced details for the 2025 Security LeadHER conference, a special event dedicated to advancing, connecting and empowering women in the security profession. The third annual Security LeadHER conference will be held Monday, June 9 – Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. This carefully crafted program represents a comprehensive professional development opportunity for women in security this year. To view the full lineup at this year’s event, please visit securityleadher.org. Read Now

    • Industry Events
  • Report: 82 Percent of Phishing Emails Used AI

    KnowBe4, the world-renowned cybersecurity platform that comprehensively addresses human risk management, today launched its Phishing Threat Trend Report, detailing key trends, new data, and threat intelligence insights surrounding phishing threats targeting organizations at the start of 2025. Read Now

  • NRF Supports Federal Bill to Thwart Retail Crime

    The National Retail Federation recently announced its support for the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025. The act was introduced by Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Representative Dave Joyce, R-Ohio. Read Now

  • ISC West 2025 Brings Almost 29,000 Industry Professionals to Las Vegas

    ISC West 2025, organized by RX and in collaboration with the Security Industry Association, concluded at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas last week. The nation’s leading comprehensive and converged security event attracted nearly 29,000 industry professionals and left a lasting impression on the global security community. Over five action-packed days, ISC West welcomed more than 19,000 attendees and featured 750 exhibiting brands. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • ISC West

New Products

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.