Point Counterpoint
Posted by wendyg in cracking stuff, unexpected consequences at March 28th, 2007
Every technology breeds its opposite. In response to a comment by Katherine Albrecht that she didn’t want anyone reading RFID tags to find out what kind of bra she is wearing, a group is working on RFID Guardian, which allows RFID tags to be selectively jammed.
Two things:
1) Ubiquitous (CA) / Pervasive (IBM) / Ambient (EU) computing creates vast, new, poorly understood and anticipated security risks
2) Any technology created and deployed will - not may - be cracked and countered in unexpected ways.
wg
March 29th, 2007 at 6:54 am
To their credit, the social impact of ambient tech is a big EU concern. They funded a project Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence (SWAMI) that has some useful reports.
March 29th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
That’s one of the most absurd EU acronyms yet
I like the idea that each technology may breed it’s equal and opposite. That’s the sort of rule of thumb that, if true, helps us anticipate the blindside.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Yes. I had breakfast with Melanie (whose last name escapes me) and asked her about the possibility of someone equipped with her technology getting near immigration and jamming all the passport chips. Yes, she said, possible, though they might notice you. (Not, I think, if you seemed to be just there on line.) But, she said, “Every technology can be used for good or bad.”
wg
April 1st, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Wendy - where you say Ubiquitous (CA) / Pervasive (IBM) / Ambient (EU)
are these synonymous?
And which CA do we mean?
And which term should we stick with? The EU one?
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:57 am
Yes, the speaker said they were different words for the same thing, hence the specification by locale.
CA = California.
Which you pick is up to you - I think pervasive is probably the worst option, as it’s mostly an IBM term. I’d either take the term that’s going to be in many of the media write-ups (ubiquitous), or the one EU government stuff will use (ambient). I favor ubiquitous, personally.
wg