Is an Internet License in Your Future?

At the recent Davos Economic Forum held in Switzerland, Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer, suggested that we may have reached a point where, before a computer user could access the Internet, the user would need to meet specific criteria.

The long and the short of it is – in order to connect to the Internet a user would need to be licensed. Mundie drew the same analogy that we drew here two years ago, with respect to this issue, when he stated:

“If you want to drive a car you have to have a license to say that you are capable of driving a car, the car has to pass a test to say it is fit to drive and you have to have insurance’

So would requiring a license to use the Internet make it a safer place for all of us? Would requiring a license from the “Department of Computer Literacy”, protect us from the ever increasing exposure we all face to Trojans, Spyware, Scareware, Viruses, Phishing Scams, and Identity Theft, and more?

Consider this – car drivers must be educated, practiced, and licensed in order to drive a car. But, does this ensure absolute road safety for all? Not in practice it doesn’t. Far from it.

A licensing requirement doesn’t stop drunk drivers from getting into a car and killing innocent victims. And it certainly doesn’t eliminate our exposure to the speeders, tailgaters, and the road ragers that seem to plague our highways. Licensing then, doesn’t seem to eliminate the risks we face on the road.

Still, the need to prove competency behind the wheel, while it doesn’t eliminate all risks, is effective in reducing risk exposure to manageable, and acceptable levels.

So, would an Internet license requirement reduce risk exposure to manageable and acceptable levels?

Unlike the need to be educated and practiced, in order to qualify for a driver’s license; to access the Internet all that is required is a modem attached to a computer. There’s no need to prove qualifications. There’s no need to prove an awareness of the very real dangers that the Internet presents.

So why should you care about this? Why do I care? It’s pretty simple really – unaware computer users simple don’t know, what they don’t know, when it comes to adequately protecting themselves – and by extension, you and me – on the Internet.

For the last two years, or more, I have had members of my group query every client on the state of Internet security, and the protective measures they have instituted to ensure both their own safety, and the safety of their systems, while connected to the Web.

While not in the realm of a scientific survey, nevertheless, the results from this survey are far more than just anecdotal evidence.

Here’s the scoop – a significant majority (more than 70%), simply do not care about, or understand, the vulnerabilities and issues that surround computer system security.

Common responses included:

Security applications are too confusing and hinder my “fun” by slowing down system response time.

I didn’t know I shouldn’t click the ‘YOU ARE A WINNER!!!!’ banner.

My anti-malware application has let me down – how was I supposed to know I was downloading a bad program!

I’m not sure how my machine got infected – it just happened.

I like to download from Crack sites and Peer-2-Peer networks. So what?

I got a popup saying I was infected, so I clicked on it. What else was I supposed to do!

I didn’t know I was supposed to read the End User License Agreement – I don’t even know what that is.

I thought I had Windows update activated.

What do you mean I should update ALL my applications?

What’s a Firewall – never heard of it?

On the face of it, it might appear as if these types of responses are somehow not very typical. Unfortunately, these responses are not only typical, but characteristic of the majority of the home computer users’ my group comes into contact with every day.

Comment from a forum: “In the past, the Internet consisted, mostly, of smart people in front of dumb terminals. Now, the reverse situation dominates”.

Look, I have no doubt that the problem is multifaceted, and the above comment shouldn’t be taken (necessarily), at face value. There’s little doubt, that part of the problem is simply fear. People do not understand computers, so they are afraid of them in a sense.

Secondly, people generally, are simply not interested in learning about computers sufficiently to make the fear go away. The question is, of course, should they need to know anything other than how to turn on a computer? Should users be forced to comply with a license requirement. Well, maybe not.

Computer experts seem to agree that it is often flawed computer software, and not just inadequate user knowledge, or lack of proper procedure, that contributes  to the proliferation of unsecured computer systems and cyber-crime, on the Internet.

It seems to me then, what is needed as a good first step, rather than compulsory licensing, are machines that are designed with simple, but internally sophisticated operating systems, secure and easy to use for the majority of users; where limited user interaction is required to maintain the security of the system.

Equally as important, in my view, is a concerted level of effort from law enforcement, at every level, to actively pursue those who continue to cause havoc on the Internet.

We now live in the age of the “Interconnectedness of All Things” in which we are beginning to enjoy the development and availability of large numbers of Internet connected devices. There is no doubt that this will lend new strength to computer-aided crime.

Unless we develop a rational approach to the underlying security issues surrounding the Internet, cyber crime will continue to flourish, and successful attacks on computers over the Internet will continue to proliferate.

But, a license to drive the Internet superhighway as apart of the solution?

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

–    George Washington

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