I was following some recent threads in conversation both on and off list that directed me to rethink a few things.
All of them concern a concept best described as Data Integrity. That can be the mundane routine of backups kept dispersed for disaster immunity to the securing those backups from loss. Loss again can be both the "destruction" of a copy or it's disclosure to undesired persons. While the majority of "us" are pretty much able to attempt self protection from both- what of the masses? How many folks trusting their computers? Userdata integrity is currently an afterthought or just ignored. That ignorance seems deeply pervasive to a fault. With the exception of obfuscated data used only to convict but not examined to exonerate. Before flaming me for hype- read the papers! Search for "forty years"; and pornography in school Several of us KCLUG mambers allowed access to the unaltered records might have seen justice done.Instead ? We possibly have wrongly convicted an innocent teacher. For both trusting the computer she used and following rules. She was admonished to never unplug or turn off "the computer" So pornographic popups were seen by students absent any PROVED witting intent or even provable neglect of duty.. And why is this on us? Because the so-called expert witnesses failed to even LOOK for rational explanations such as adware or other malicious code! So a schoolteacher was denied fair trial based on all evidence.
Folks- I submit a bedrock ethical guideline of conduct for persons and code handling user's data is long overdue! Who is up to write one?
The appliance operators of our world have not a clue to guard themselves. Yes, the more educated folks do get some clue but they are a minority. WE are the de facto adhocracy to possibly offset the dismal reality. And dismal barely serves to cover the best estimate my admittedly poor experience gives of how bad it is for our security. All of what I have said goes to lay out something that WE are possible oversensitive alarmists about and the public at large knows nothing of. Repetition is again not by accident, Nor do I suspect is much of the inherent insecurity of our world's data structures. Oliver North proved the mistaken faith in delete meaning a real erasure as being a Really Wrong Explanation. Or lack of explanation perhaps?
*Some things are not defensible by blaming incompetence over malice*
So I ask respectful comment on what issues in protecting the integrity of "user's data" can be posted to the ledgers of stupid Vs intentional faults. And how we can fix them. Or mitigate the unfixables.