It is described at times as an arms race. Information Security always seems to be behind the bad guys. Can this ever change?
We all know the routine by now. New exploit, new signatures, new patches, new updates, new exploits. Rinse, lather, and repeat. We hear of the next big thing to be adaptive. Heuristic scanning, signature scanning, IDS, IPS, all to mitigate the threats. We are always fighting the good fight from behind. Unfortunately, this will always be the case. Yes, we get faster, not as far behind, and better. Yes, we have people on our side actively looking for the latest exploits. It is a neck and neck race in this day and age, but the fact remains, the bad guys will always find something we haven’t. We do our best to mitigate. We know that people are the weakest link. We try to educate, but even the best education, following the best practices will not stop exploitable scenarios, be they human or code. Why? Because we are human and are flawed.
Now don’t think that I am all doom and gloom. We have made great strides forward, and will continue to do so. Truth be told though, their are only a few ways to even have a chance of truly stopping the situation, and they are either super extreme or extremely improbable.
First idea I have is to have, as was a tag line from the movie Sneakers, “No More Secrets.” If everyone from corporations, to governments were wide open about everything, then what is there left to steal? Just money which brings me to the second thought. Go back to the bartering system. This gets rid of the money issue, and actually makes sense. Trading goods and services for other goods and services. Now you don’t need credit cards, Money, bank accounts, etc… The other big one that gets brought up in my mind is of course getting rid of technology all together.
None of these ideas are practical of course, so we are back to the original thought here. Can we ever get ahead. More thank likely not, but we keep getting closer to being even. So keep training, keep educating others, and keep your wits about you. We are in for a bumpy ride.