Joi Ito: Cyber Security Is Like An Immune System

Cyber security is like an immune system: you don’t get stronger by completely shielding yourself from any germs, says Mr. Joichi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab.

“Security is like an immune system: you don’t get stronger by completely shielding yourself from any germs,” said Mr. Joichi Ito, director of the MIT Media Lab. “You have to stress the system to make it better. Here, the stressors are the hackers.”

AsianScientist (Oct. 21, 2014) – Ito was describing a ‘silicon’ arms race in the digital realm, very similar to a biological arms race where both germs and host immune systems evolve in tandem to outwit each other.

Just as how the immune system ‘learns’ about a virus and develops immunity towards it, security consultants must also be challenged by hacking attempts to implement better security controls, he said.

Ito was part of a dialogue among political leaders, scientists and industralists on the topic of “Security and Privacy in a Society changed by ICT” at the recently concluded Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum. The meeting, in its 11th year, took place from October 5-7, 2014, in Kyoto, Japan.

The dialogue included Olivier Piou, CEO of Gemalto; Edward Screven, chief corporate architect of Oracle; Takuya Hirai, member of the house of representatives, National Diet of Japan; and Pradeep Khosla, chancellor of the University of California, San Diego. The session was chaired by Ismail Serageldin, director of the Library of Alexandria.

The ‘attack’ game

Governments have been investing tremendous amounts in the ‘attack’ game, said Ito, referring to the beefed up efforts to protect online data from black hat groups like Anonymous, a loose network of online hacker activists (or ‘hacktivists’) famous for their distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on important websites.

“But [prosecuting hackers] created antagonistic relationships with hackers and government. A lot of the theoretical security risks will only be deployed in a very bad situation, as a tool of war for example.”

Downplaying concerns that hackers will someday take down the Internet, Ito said that those fears were unnecessary.

“We have to understand their incentive structure: people who can destroy the Internet also call it their home.”

As for those who are there to ‘guard’ the Internet, Ito cautioned that no matter how much governments and private companies pay security consultants to erect impenetrable fortresses around their data, it just isn’t possible to create a flawless security system.

Recent iCloud password leaks

Olivier Pious, CEO of Gemalto, alluding to the recent highly publicized iCloud password leaks that led to private photos of celebrities being released, said:

“This new digital world is still at its infancy. It needs education. Nearly 400 million digital records have been stolen.”

“Citizens, companies and politicians have important roles to set verifiable limits with respect to data security and privacy; as well as receive education about good practices to protect their data.”

Agreeing with Pious, Ito said on a somber note:

“It is going to get worse before it gets better. Privacy cannot just be turned on again [once it is lost].”

Juliana Chan was invited by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science and the New York Academy of Sciences to attend the 2014 STS Forum as one of its ten “Future Leaders”.

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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Juliana is the founder and CEO of Wildtype Media Group, Asia's leading STEM-focused media company, spanning digital, print, custom publishing and events. Brands under Wildtype Group include Asian Scientist Magazine and Supercomputing Asia, award-winning titles available in print and online. Juliana regularly moderates panel discussions and gives talks on science communication.

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