To Build a More Equitable World

The roads we have traveled to reach this place in history have been a long-fought battle for control. Every continent has seen its share of controversy, conspiracy, and counterattacks that breed discontent and fear and allow our imaginations to run wild. From the ancient kings and queens to the new empires rising from the ashes, the approach to conventional warfare is met with a similar gusto, as each leader sets out to prove their power and tighten the reins on their people. The repeated pattern of “You killed my father, prepare to die” becomes the world’s insanity, repeating the same thing over and over expecting something to change. The world is not as big as it once seemed, yet the known knowledge of the world grows every day. If countries would choose to take the lead by breaking down the borders and use technology as a creative tool to help families rather than a weapon, we could build a more equitable world.

The Borders of Church and State

As the world’s population has grown over the past millennia, populations have many shared and similar experiences. Warring tribes and factions, disease, and political strife can decimate countries and cause a geopolitical shift. Over time, oral histories became written histories and record keepers continued to add to the histories. Public knowledge was often limited and restricted, leaving very little room for mistakes. This unyielding way of life forced migrants and refugees to flee everything they knew to find a place where they could have autonomy to live life on their own terms. They have been called pirates, rebels, and traitors, but every revolution started with individuals willing to die for a chance at controlling their own lives.  

These days, many would argue that capitalism is the new way to fight for control. Governments want to limit the control of the people, industries want the people to think their product is needed, and the individuals left footing bill are the same ones doing all the work and getting none of the credit.[1] Adding fuel to the fire looming on the horizon, organizations are now dealing in individuals’ personal information and using it to gain access to government information that could lead to the potential harm of human life.[2] 

Dealing in Information

In 2022, the National Security Agency (NSA) released a cybersecurity advisory detailing how the People’s Republic of China (PRC) uses state-sponsored cyber exploitation to compromise network service providers through “publicly known vulnerabilities,”[3] but it begs the question of what it means to be publicly known. If something is public knowledge, it doesn’t mean that the information is truly known by every individual, rather the information is a matter of public record. The limit of possible vulnerabilities is subject to the skill and knowledge of the individual threat actor and whether they are on your side.

Social engineering, one of the most used attack vectors, takes the people’s trust further and uses social norms and known information to persuade an individual to perform a desired action. For those who make a living in processing information, this entails using open-source information to collaborate with human intelligence and intelligence derived from national security operations. Open-source information is used in every country to pass the latest information regarding many aspects of your life.

There are laws in place to protect the information entered online through more than one billion different websites,[4] but to a threat actor, these laws tend to be ignored. For lawful citizens, organizations are required to ensure the safety and lawfulness of their site. However, to do this, most organizations retain the rights to the content on their site. Every new app that is used to talk to your community is putting your information and content in the hands of corporations. If you do not trust the individuals who have access to your most vulnerable information, it leaves you vulnerable to targeted attacks. 

Technology was made to share information but has turned into a place to hide the most vulnerable parts of you. As the masses flood the digital world, they come face-to-face with the reality that humans are inherently flawed. It means that the use of information technology also requires the use of community safeguards, and each community is different.

We are at the cusp of where public knowledge has reached the same level of intelligence across the world. However, there are many governments who want to censor the information and only allow “good news” to reach their communities. They want to alter information to maintain control and tell stories to incite fear and doubt. These states create a narrative that the people need their leaders, but what the people need are facts. The best defense against mis-, dis-, and mal-information is to provide the facts.

Borders are built to keep communities safe, not to keep people out. Many borders around the world, particularly in Europe and Asia, were drawn while wounds were still healing and are continually under dispute. Before we can progress into a new age of technology, these issues must be addressed through cooperation and a willingness to forgive. Stop fighting the wars of our fathers and start learning from history to protect those most vulnerable.

[1] StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum. New Taxes for New Economy 2021 (https://forum.strategeast.org/new-taxes-for-new-economy-2021/)

[2] Politico, The mounting death toll of hospital cyberattacks (https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/28/cyberattacks-u-s-hospitals-00075638)

[3] National Security Agency, People’s Republic of China State-Sponsored Cyber Actors Exploit Network Providers and Devices (U/OO/160405-22, PP-22- 0825, JUN 2022 Ver 1.0). 

[4] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) in the current version of the OJ L 119, 04.05.2016; cor. OJ L 127, 23.5.2018