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05 Feb 2010
Microsoft's chief strategy officer has suggested that people should undergo mandatory training before being allowed online.
Craig Mundie, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, proposed a three-tier system of authentication for people, devices and applications.
Mundie acknowledged that this would mean some loss of anonymity, but said that people are used to having to present identification in other areas of life and that the internet should be no different.
"If you want to drive a car you have to have a licence 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," he said.
"People don't understand the scale of criminal activity on the internet. Whether criminal, individual or nation states, the community is growing more sophisticated."
Mundie explained that it is perfectly reasonable to have anonymity when simply walking down the street, but that if a citizen enters a bank to access funds they will need an ID.
Hamadoun Touré, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union, used the meeting to suggest that nations should sign up to a cyber war treaty guaranteeing that they would not launch an online "first strike".
"A cyber war would be worse than a tsunami - a catastrophe," he said, adding that the attacks on Estonia in 2007 were just the beginning.
Countries should also guarantee not to harbour cyber terrorists, said Touré, and to offer freedom of information to citizens.
A McAfee spokesman at the event warned that China, the US, Russia, Israel and France are among 20 countries currently gearing up to take warfare online, and that the world is facing an electronic arms race.
US senator Susan Collins, meanwhile, said in a blog post: "A former US director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, asked me about the possibility of the Senate passing an international treaty on cyber security, if one were to be drafted, or absent that, a cyber security bill for the US.
"Our Homeland Security Committee is working on such legislation, but there are many obstacles to overcome."
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Do you agree?
Age has nothing to do with it
Egghead has the immaturity of a cocky 14-year-old who assumes that young people know and understand more about modern technology because like egghead, it is "young". It still doesn't stop me resenting his statement about people over 40 should retire: I am nearly fifty, and I know what all those terms he mentioned and more; I know even a little bit about programming. The difference between a young one and me is probably the dreaded "life experience" and the wisdom it brings when making far reaching decisions. Remember Einstein didn?t write his theory of general relativity until he was 36 ? that?s only 4 years before the age you suggest everyone loses it. (In fact, if we look at the average user, there are more probably ?old? people that know about protocols and opening ports than young ones, because they lived in the ? DIY computing? age of command language, when you HAD to know all that stuff: now all that is automated so you don't need to have any knowledge at all to use a computer? And that, my dear, is the reason why computers and Internet have taken off in a big way. My guess is that the proportion of people who expect things just to work out of box is the same if not more than it ever was; it is just that more people are exposed to computers than before than ever before.) I am regularly dismayed about people's devil may care attitude about computer security and ignorance, especially of young people who should know better (they teach IT at school, don't they?) but I still think Mundie?s statement is even more ridiculous than demanding for everyone who wants to take up smoking to have a medical degree to understand the consequences of their action.
Posted by: Granny 12 Feb 2010
Eggman...
If your Daddy (assuming you have one) knew what drivel you were posting online, he'd send you to bed without any supper. Grow up, little boy.
Posted by: Brendan 08 Feb 2010
Absurdity
Cut the bull shit, Mundie... Let go in Dick of elderly hedgehog!
Posted by: Craig Mundie 08 Feb 2010
Oh? Will you next propose a "Telephony Drivers License"
Many a life has been saved by youngsters and elders being able to dial directly into emergency services. So too have some occassions of cries for emergency help from the Internet. You propose under the guise of "security" that these same people would not have been able to save the lives they did because they would be hindered by the requirement of some test...ludicrous at best, criminal at worst. How about just pushing silently those patches that MS deems most serious. While I know that MS has received grief for doing that in the past it would be the more responsible answer than what you are proposing.
Posted by: FDunn 08 Feb 2010
Cyber Fascism Coming Your Way
We have enjoyed 20 years of internet anonymity and why would you need a driving licence for the internet. As attacks and crime on the internet have become more sophisticated then the protection we have is upgraded as well to cover this. In most cases anti-virus software and firewalls are better than the dross that most virus writers put out today. This is just one more piece of the total control grid these power hungry people want to introduce and try to deny us our inalienable rights. And I bet they would want us to pay for the "privilege" as well. No thank you.
Posted by: Mark Davies 08 Feb 2010
@eggman
It's TCP/IP. You failed.
Posted by: stevelicious 07 Feb 2010
Not so crazy - Mundie almost has it right
It's not the Internet that's causing this issue, it's mainly Windows users currently, so it should be an Internet Drivers License should be required for Windows users. Linux is so complex you have to know what you're doing in order to use it, and until all the ignorant users are driven from Windows to Mac by this requirement, these users continue to be the bane of Microsoft's easy-to-use-but-unsecured OS.
Posted by: EJ 06 Feb 2010
Mundied Thinking
What's needed is a COMPUTER driving licence. After all computers are far more complex than cars. If a majority of computer users were properly trained, they wouldn't be using Microsoft garbage, but systems that are fundamentally secure. The criminals would then go and pick an easier target.
Posted by: Paul Randle 06 Feb 2010
Really?
Old people should have nothing to do with modern technology or modern policy. You are too old to be working for a company like Microsoft and probably far too old to be part of the workforce in general. This is the kind of thing that amazes me; humanity develops progress -of any kind- this time, in the form of an anonymous online community that can only benefit us as a species. And like a SUPERPOWER, an old white man appears out of nowhere to shout loudly against it. Mundie is of the same group who: worried if blacks learned how to read, women got the right to vote, executed those in the middle ages for practicing science instead of surrendering to the church. I cannot believe this man is in a position of decision making that will affect all of us. This man is the face of evil and should be removed from his position of trust and power. Mundie, you are a terrorist. You are a terrorist of the worst kind; one that beats the common man over the head with words like "control" and "submit". You practice beating and bending the non-wealthy into submission because you don't think that we deserve it, and what's worse, you expect these people to actually BELIEVE that they are free. You sicken me Mundi, you are the embodiment of evil. You know what folks? I think it might be a good idea to give anyone over the age of forty who want's to work/is working in ANY technology field a test of our own. Something relatively simple, like: What does TCPIP stand for? What is DNS? Select the best kind of network topography for a public library that wants to share resources with others around the city? If they fail, they have to resign immediately. The point I'm trying to make is not that "old people" contribute nothing to the modern age, only that they should not be allowed to make decisions with any kind of impact. How often do people like him even USE the internet? Does he even know what ASP, or HTML is? See, this isn't their age, these decisions will not affect them (the elderly, the old business men, the corrupt politicians) every day for the rest of their lives. OLD ideas and OLD ways of thinking need to stay our of the way of progress.
Posted by: EggMan 05 Feb 2010
I told you M$ sux
Internet is a freeway, it is next level in creating bridges amongst nations.In our virtual life we belong to this "other" world that lets us to communicate without borders of real geography.Well someone decided to put some limits with the only reason of making money.M$ are playing a game of monopoly.We shall not let them to succeed in their plans.
Posted by: Nikola Markov 05 Feb 2010
Internet drivers licences - Who's internet is it anyway??
Yes take away the many's freedom, because of a few. Why should everyone be treated as they have criminal intent. Next thing we have to get ourselves bar coded or microchiped to log in. A computer is hardly a car !!
Posted by: Ralph 05 Feb 2010
Wrong and wrong
Eggman, It is clear that stupidity has no relation to age. I totally disagree with what this guy has to say, and I totally disagree with you.
Posted by: Happy Old Man 05 Feb 2010
As one of those old people....
I guess I am too old to answer too. I have to admit that having a bunch of people who do not know what they are doing on the internet and clicking on any link they see is part of the problem we now have with all the zombie machines making up huge botnets. User education and proof of adequate skills would be a big help in cleaning up the internet. Licensing is more about making sure people know how to use something than some sinister plot to control the masses.
Posted by: mrobinson52 05 Feb 2010
BAR CODEED MAN
Yea - everyone should put a BAR CODE on their foreheads to video-chat. Give me a break Mundie - go f* yourself. OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: REBEL 05 Feb 2010