[GTALUG] NAT [was Re: Linux hardening question]

[Russell]

On July 3, 2017 9:15:23 AM EDT, James Knott via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
>On 07/03/2017 08:56 AM, Russell wrote:
>> It took a lot of highway deaths before car manufacturers were
>compelled to make seatbelts a standard from the factory. It took
>another generation and a lot of physical hacks, ie. no start till
>buckled up, to get people to use them.  
>>
>> Its open to everyone to generate or use a keysigning authority. 
>
>Yep.  I get mine from cacert.org.  The problem is most people don't
>know
>about them or bother with getting them.  In large organizations,
>directory servers can provide them.  I worked at IBM Canada HQ, back in
>the late '90s.  One of the first things I had to do, when I started,
>was
>get my email certificates.  This was on Lotus Notes.  Any LDAP server
>should be able to support X.509 certificates, which makes them easier
>to
>use.  Otherwise, you have to manually exchange them, by sending  signed
>email.
>
>> Perhaps that was the problem with Hillary Clintons use of a home
>network mailserver? That she signed her own keys privately but then did
>the governments work using them. This would clearly outside of
>government and even any reasonable business policy.
>>
>
>My understanding is that they were plain text email.  If they had been
>encrypted, then this wouldn't have been such a problem.  Also, it was
>the DNC's server, along with another Democrat one that was hacked, not
>Hilary's.  Regardless, she shouldn't have been using a personal server
>for government business.  But that pales in comparison with Trump's use
>of Twitter.

Welcome to the new age of digital populism, where Twitter upvotes are an acceptable metric of facts. 

I think Donald Trump is living proof that you shouldn't do something on the net, just because you are able to.

If he was just Trump the TV actor or real estate developer, it wouldn't be such a big deal.

The fact that Trump is Commander In Chief in charge of the US's entire system of both physical and SIGINT defences, is probably the strongest argument I can make for Blockchaining governments, as a part of any fundamental approach to a nations security.

Twitter is a distraction from good governance, yet every politician seems to use it to build their personal brand. Worse they actually use taxpayer funded resources under the guise of getting the word out.

As an aside, apparantly the TTC has two full time employees monitoring Twitter for negative comments. The spin doctoring of Twitter posted  complaints can start even before an involved worker gets back from lunch. 

Rightly or wrongly waiting for facts is an essential part of problem solving.

By eliminating the wait time for collection and evaluation of information and then verifying the correctness of that information as factual or other, Twitter cloaks legal innuendo in a veil of truth, expressing opinion as fact, when it is no such thing.

The more confused people are in a crowd, the easier it is for pickpokets to work. This is a physical reality. The same holds true for virtual spaces like Twitter. 

Bob Dylan once said you shouldnt let your TV get your kicks for you. Twitter is about as usefull as TV in that respect. As much as TV abuse only affects your own perception or misperceptions of facts, with Twitter you can pass that state along, virally.

The grifters, hucksters and other charlitans, seem to be having an internet field day on Twitter and other so called social medias right now. Hopefully this can change. 

But for now, don't ever assume that Donald Trump is using Twitter in order to create clarity rather than confusion. His approach to this medium is just the digitized version of his business practices. Confusion is the oldest and most effective sales tactic in the world.

The US reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining that status quo in governance in their last election, which made hucksterisim a desirable characteristic for a US president. The unheralded truth is that there is profit in confusion as an actual product.

Also, contrary to the presidents assertions, there is no such thing as fake news.

News is a product for sale and bears some little resemblence to true facts and upheld truths. Those ideas are subjective in nature and each of us has to make that decision for ourselves. 

IMHO Twitter is the last place on the planet to look for truth. 

Its like when I was a kid in rural NB and we shared a party line phone. Our ring was two long one short. The family rule was you never gave out personal information over the phone, except for emergencies, because anyone else on the line and not just the operator could be listening in.

Lots of untrue stories made the rounds of whole neighbourhoods based on "party line" facts before the truth was known.

That to me is Twitter in a nutshell. A swamp of ego reinforcing braggadocio and untested facts. At least when used by business's and politicians.

All soapboxing aside, for me its about deciding the who, what, where, why and how of, metrical analysis in trust of facts. 

Twitter is so far down my trust list, I don't have an account or even read most of the Twitter that is fed to my email account by people who do use it. Like my local politicians after I sign  up for updates on community issues I am following. 

>
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-- 
Russell
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