For many people, the first real wake-up call over issues of online security came in the aftermath of 9-11, when Richard Clarke, White House cyber security adviser from October 2001 to March 2003, spoke out about the dangers to US security from online attack. And if not then, certainly as concerns about online identity theft have grown from a murmur to a roar over the past few years.
I’ve been interested in this issue for quite a while, and for quite some time have thought that we were approaching or were already at a critical point – the point where the bad guys were finally better at it than the good guys, and where online attacks, including by independent operators, finally became an governmentally-sponsored means of state and industrial espionage.
It would be hard to argue now that we are not at that point. Recent events particularly have brought to public light the astonishing breadth and depth of espionage and criminal activity now carried out online.
Where are we, how did we get here and what happens next? We’re fascinated by these questions, and delighted that this year we have an opportunity to dig in with FT reporter Joseph Menn, author of Fatal System Error, a fascinating investigative exploration of crime online. Please join us at mesh for Joe’s insights into this subterranean world.
