To talk about walls and perimeters in security isn’t just a decade out of date, it’s over two decades past its prime! The first time I heard “the perimeter is dead” was in 1996, and I am sure many reading this heard it even before that; so it’s with a little shock that the word is back to some degree as we talk about a literal, physical wall and the effects of that wall on the U.S. Government. In an attempt to stay above the politics, I’ll do my utmost to make this about Cyber.
Classic “cyber walls” or perimeters make little sense anymore. There is however a “wall,” metaphorically speaking, that does make sense that occurred to me on Monday as I went through security at the airport, but I’ll get to that later because it all started with me in a security line at the airport. After listening to the news for the last week and hearing about slowdowns in plane inspections (which did not thrill my wife given how much I fly) and TSA inspection points backing up, I was prepared for the worst and arrived three hours before my international flight yesterday.
Imagine my surprise when I saw a short line, two people at each station and all lanes open!
I don’t know if this was a government exemption of some kind, prioritizing the international terminal or just being smart with funds and dedicated employees focusing on the visible, demonstrable face of government functions. If it’s any of these, I am impressed as a large part of the live Mark 1 Human inspection at security checkpoints is the show of security, which is as real as many other forms of security in its own way.
But this has had me thinking about the people on the cyber front within the government. Are they as well staffed? Are they two-to-a-desk this long, Dr. Martin Luther King weekend? Are there clear lanes in all the incident response and triage queues? Somehow, I doubt it.
You see there is a wall in security that still matters: a Human wall.
This is not the outmoded “perimeter thinking” of previous decades of product-centric thinking and how that view saw “walls” in security. It’s not even the security show of uniforms and x-ray machines and scanners in the airport. It’s instead the thin, blue-team cyber wall of analysts and personnel who keep our networks and data centers and computers safe.
This “Human cyber wall” is now, ironically threatened as we pursue a literal wall on a physical boundary. How eroded might that wall be by lower funding when the best talent can command big dollars in the private sector? What’s the message we’re sending them? I also read about Canadian Air Traffic controllers sending their counterparts in the United States pizza in a show of solidarity; is anyone sending the “Human cyber wall” pizza?
In the digital world, the absence of that “Human cyber wall” could mean immediate theft, disruption of critical services and attacks from millions of adversaries. Right now. Not at a phantom future date. No FUD required.
Now, I promised to keep this as apolitical as possible, and I will; but I personally worry more about a cyber attack immediately from multiple sources due to weakening of the “Human cyber wall” than I do about any immigrant threat long term. Think of this as a reminder to not forget immediate, real cyber risks as we haggle in Washington over who pays for a wall, a barrier or any other physical obstacles..
Who knew that the price of a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border with pre-21st century notions of physical, perimeter security would come at the price of taking people off the very real “Human cyber wall” between us and everyone out there who can hack with impunity and virtual anonymity?
The men and women protecting us and our basic critical infrastructure online in the Federal government (or in any pluralist, democratic society) should be recognized for their work, of course; and in particular they should be among the singled out, critical, maintained services during the current U.S. government shutdown (or equivalent in other countries) if we’re to avoid opportunistic potshots, political hacktivism and digital adventurism by foreign powers. Right now. Today.
Let’s not forget that there is a “Human cyber wall” that still matters; and it’s made up of dedicated, hard working, patriotic men and women who in many cases are going without pay right now.
