Tough Code vs God’s Way of Living

 Tough Code vs God’s Way of Living 

 

The greatest insider threat to not only organizations but Christianity as well are those who incite hacktivism by maliciously living without integrity.  In the notes of a meeting of the United Nations Security Council notes that 

ISIL/Da’esh sought to use the Internet and social networks to encourage and mobilize its followers to carry out attacks, as well as to recruit resources and members.  Peru advocated strengthening policies to promote critical thinking in cyberspace, he said.  Citing the threat posed by returning foreign terrorist fighters, he stressed the need for comprehensive criminal justice strategies that respect human rights, due process and the gender perspective. (United Nations Counter-Terrorism Head Tells Security Council) 

 

Our textbook, Secure Software Design, discusses the Cult of the Dead Cow (Richardson & Thies, 2013), a hacktivist organization that believes that information should be the property of all and the more informed people are about issues, the greater the possibility that these issues could be resolved peacefully.  The Cult of the Dead Cow developed Back Orifice which had the intent of being a technology which could enable citizens of speech suppressing regimes the ability to interact through the internet anonymously.  During this research, cDc found a vulnerability in border gateway protocol and contacted manufacturers.  To force these manufacturers into action, Mudge, a member of the cDc released details about how to conduct such an attack to the United States’ senate (Menn, 2019).  It may appear that the cDc overstepped some boundaries with the release of the attack.  However considering the potential impact that governments who do not value the right to free speech can cause by routing all DNS traffic through certain routers enabling the crackdown on dissidents, it appears as though the cDc might have acted as according to their moral values. Microsoft also made security policies which made it harder to run the Back-Orifice software (Menn, 2019).  In response BO2k made available in 1999 (Menn, 2019).   Another concern that cDc had with Microsoft was that Microsoft was working hard to have a monopoly on information (Menn, 2019).  Google was not founded and therefore it did not challenge Microsoft at this time.  Microsoft was head and shoulders above other data companies such as America Online and Yahoo.  Fueled by the dot com bubble collapsing, Microsoft was eager to gain profit and in 1999 was deemed by the United States Congress to be a monopoly.  According to the cDc, Microsoft opened its wallet and tried to bribe United States officials. The software engineer who took the lead in writing BO2k said “Our position should not be one of Microsoft bashing, but rather of user education. [Microsoft] needs to take responsibility for putting so much power in the hands of the user.” The Atlanta FBI office warned that the new version would be “potentially more destructive and difficult to eradicate” (Menn, 2019). In the documentary, Tough Guise 2, producer Jackson Katz tells of two types of baby blankets, a blue one for boys and a pink one for girls.  When the babies leave the hospital, they are wrapped in someone else’s worldview that is defined by culture about what traits a person according to their gender should have.  Organizations such as the boy scouts and the girl scouts as well as the YMCA and YWCA try to install confidence beyond these gender types and encourage children toward accomplishments. What Jackson Katz was concerned about was hyper-masculinity.  According to this theory, when a man is challenged and it is shifting his perspective away from the perspective the male wishes that others view himself as being, the subject attempts to soften the blows by challenging the other person’s credentials and exposing the other person as a phony who is not to be taken seriously (Kutz, 2013).  One of the downfalls of capitalism is that, as clear in the case involving the cDc and Microsoft, Microsoft felt challenged by the cDc producing a well-intentioned product and made adjustments to hamper the effects. It is important to note that Microsoft did produce a remote product known as Back Office which was for remote access so perhaps the cDc could have named their product something else. The cDc product laid much of the groundwork for the Onion browser using the Tor protocol.  I heard a sermon today that talked about why in Pentecost a fire descended upon the heads of the disciples.  When one thinks about it, a wind could either extinguish a candle or it can make the flame so large that it becomes a wildfire.  Jesus life did not make common sense, it made divine sense and therefore it caused an upset for many people.  Jesus had a fierce love for his people who his considered to be his children.  Jesus says in Luke chapter 12:49-53 

I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law (Biblegateway). 

 

When we do not put priorities where they need to be, God’s wrath is against us.  When we speak of loving our neighbor as ourselves, there is great upset (Graham, 2019).  When we speak not of favoring our friends but treating all God’s children with love be them Americans or Mexicans or Arabs or Africans there is a great unsettlement within our own hearts (Graham, 2019). When we speak about how to manage the economy, not for our own gain there is also an upset.  These issues bother us, and they are intended to bother us into action (Graham, 2019).  Thus, when a company insider thumbs his nose at people with a seeming disadvantage and block the way of effective communication, there is a reason for hacktivism.  As the people of an inhabited planet, we are many different social structures.  Please use your God given talents and take the time to listen to concerns.  No matter how small, every life deserves respect. 

References: 

BibleGateway. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke 12&version=NIV 

Graham, J. (2019, August 19). St. Al's Sunday Homily August 18, 2019 in St. Aloysius Spokane, WA - VIDEOS. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/channels/stalsvideos/354558946 

ISIL Now 'A Covert Global Network' Despite Significant Losses, United Nations Counter-Terrorism Head Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases. (n.d.). Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13463.doc.htm 

Kutz, J. (2013). Tough Guise 2 - Violence, Manhood & American Culture. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://liberty.kanopy.com/video/tough-guise-2 

Menn, J. (2019). Cult of the Dead Cow: How the Original Hacking Supergroup Might Just Save the World. PublicAffairs. 

Richardson, T., & Thies, C. N. (2013). Secure software design. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning.