ACTA and the Time Warp

Before I go further I need to offer thanks to three sources. Firstly, to Monica Horten at the excellent IPtegrity blog who saw the connection. Secondly to the genius of Richard O’Brien who penned such a prescient prophesy. And thirdly to the authors of ACTA, without whom – well, I wish we were without whom.

The story reported by Monica is the jump to the left in the European Parliament (socialist rapporteur says he recommends that ACTA be rejected) followed by the step to the right (EPP Sarkozy-ite delays things to buy more time for the rightsholder lobbyists to regroup) – and it was Monica who made the connection with Richard O’Brien. (I’ve reported the ‘news’ side of this story on Infosecurity Mag) “ACTA: EU Parliament takes a step to the right,” is Monica’s headline. “It took a jump to the left…” is the first line.

“It’s just a jump to the left And then a step to the right” is the source in Richard O’Brien’s phenomenal Time Warp song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. What I hadn’t realised is quite how accurate those lyrics turn out to be.

Hollywood/government lays out its intention for the internet: It’s astounding, time is fleeting – Madness takes its toll – But listen closely, not for very much longer – I’ve got to keep control

But users are lost in their own, innocent, dreamy vision of the internet: It’s so dreamy, oh fantasy free me – So you can’t see me, no not at all

This is such a romantic view of freedom and the internet! But Hollywood/government responds: In another dimension, with voyeuristic intention – Well-secluded, I see all – With a bit of a mind flip – You’re there in the time slip – And nothing can ever be the same

This is O’Brien at his most prophetic. Hollywood/government wishes, from a hidden point of view, to see everything that happens on the internet. And once they succeed, nothing will ever be the same again.

O’Brien goes on to foretell what will happen. The user concludes: Well I was walking down the street just a-having a think – When a snake of a guy gave me an evil wink – He shook me up, he took me by surprise – He had a pickup truck and the devil’s eyes. – He stared at me and I felt a change – Time meant nothing, never would again.

Hollywood/government wins. The Time Warp itself? They will just keep cycling round in a time warp, time and time again, until they succeed. Just beware when that snake of a guy gives you an evil wink – and make sure you never vote for him again!

Time for ACPO to go

Back in February I commented on David Harley’s blogs on the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) National Cyber Crime Conference. David attended as a speaker. He blogged afterwards, “The constantly recurring conference theme of working with other sectors rather than using them purely as an information feed into a black box, seems a more positive approach.”

At the end of my post I said:

Incidentally, I have asked for reports from the conference, but been told that “There will not be an output report from this event but a brief summary will be available in the next week or so.” Well that’s a good start for a two-way information exchange.

I finally received the brief summary today, more than two months later. Here it is in full:

Due to the confidential nature of the discussions which took place as part of this conference, Forum members have made the decision not to publish this to a wider audience.

Well, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. The police have no right to be secretive about how they police. They should be more open – they are, after all, our servants. I am a firm supporter of elected chiefs of police and the abolition of this unaccountable, self-fulfilling, private company funded by private donations and public money that is known as ACPO. It’s time they went.

Keynote sessions from Infosecurity Europe 2012 – and a few other stories

Infosecurity Europe is over for another year. If you weren’t there, well I just suggest you make sure you get there next year. Meantime, here’s my take on a couple of the announcements and almost all of the keynote sessions:

Infosecurity Europe 2012: Minister of State for Universities and Science introduces the 2012 security breaches survey
The challenge, says the Rt Hon David Willetts, is that in order to get the economic and social benefits that the internet offers, we need to first tackle cyber security.
24 April 2012

PwC and Infosecurity Europe release the latest Information Security Breaches Survey
Significant attacks more than double, but one-in five companies still spend less than one percent of their IT budget on security, and more than half of small organizations do no security training at all.
24 April 2012

Russian cybercrime: what Russia is doing, and what it should be doing
Russian security company Group-IB says Russian cybercriminals made £2.3b in 2011; Russian-speaking cybercriminals made more than $4b; and worldwide, cybercriminals made more than $12.5b.
24 April 2012

Trustworthy Internet Movement Launches Pulse Tracker
The problem, says Pulse, is that we are telling users that this site has SSL, so it’s secure. That’s not necessarily true. We are promulgating a false sense of security, and we need to fix that.
25 April 2012

Infosecurity Europe 2012: defining risk management in the context of information security
The three companies represented on the keynote panel (G4S Secure Solutions, Steria UK, and Skipton Building Society) are very different; and their CISOs have very different views on the functioning of risk management within infosec.
25 April 2012

Infosecurity Europe 2012: the rising role of the CISO
Chaired by Quocirca’s Bob Tarzey, Network Rail’s CISO Peter Gibbons and Yell’s CISO Phil Cracknell led a lively discussion on the current and future role of the CISO.
25 April 2012

Ipswitch survey reveals the extent to which IT is losing control over data
IT needs governance; but users are choosing simplicity. In choosing and using their own non-sanctioned methods for data transfer, users are causing IT to lose control over its own data.
25 April 2012

Infosecurity Europe 2012: AET & APT – Is this the next-generation attack?
Advanced persistent threats (APT) and advanced evasive techniques (AET): what are they, who’s doing them, and what can we do about them?
26 April 2012

Has the time come to dump anti-virus?
Bit-9 asks the question that dare not be spoken: is anti-virus beyond its sell-by date? And is BYOD the final straw?
26 April 2012

Infosecurity Europe 2012: The ICO on better regulation and better infosec
Christopher Graham, the UK Information Commissioner, talks about his role as an information regulator and facilitator at Infosecurity Europe in London
26 April 2012

Infosecurity Europe 2012: Are we smart enough to secure smartphones?
Three heads of security from three very different organizations came together to discuss their practical and very different experiences in introducing a company BYOD strategy.
26 April 2012

Infosecurity Europe 2012: The insider threat – is it real?
While the primary security stance faces outwards and is designed to keep hackers and malware outside of the system, organizations are increasingly aware that their own staff are also a potential – and in some cases an active – threat.
27 April 2012

Infosecurity Europe 2012: The cloud – do you really know what you’re getting in to?
The cloud is new; but it’s been around for years. It’s insecure; but more secure than we fear. Two practitioners discussed the cloud of FUD.
27 April 2012

It’s the lack of understanding of virtualization that makes security an issue
A new study from Kaspersky Lab confirms an earlier one from Crossbeam Systems: it’s a lack of knowledge about virtualization that leads to fear for its security.
26 April 2012