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Some very good points made in this article but also so many cringey takes. The author is an engineer but compares the user to server ratio at Twitter to Netflix
by bink 4y ago
Some very good points made in this article but also so many cringey takes. The author is an engineer but compares the user to server ratio at Twitter to Netflix. Those services are so very different and have such vastly different hardware, software, and network requirements I don't even know where to begin.
They dismiss Mudge's comments on lack of disk encryption by saying that anything less than end-to-end encryption is pointless anyways. Again, I don't even really know where to begin. Those features address completely different risks. Not every service can reasonably implement end-to-end encryption while still providing the functionality and support their users want. That doesn't mean they should just ignore encryption altogether. There are other threats out there that are mitigated by encryption at rest. And I think the core of Mudge's complaint here is that too many people have access to private DMs. There are all kinds of security controls to mitigate that threat that it sounds like Twitter isn't using.
> Cybersecurity has the wrong belief that “security” is their highest ethical duty, to the point where they thing it’s good to lie to people for their own good, as long as doing so achieves better security.
Wait, what? I've worked in the industry as long as Mudge has and I've never come to this conclusion. There are many, many security engineers, managers, and execs out there that work hard to earn a great reputation in their field by measuring security against business needs and finding a welcome compromise.
I say this as someone who pointed out when this story first broke that Mudge's background really didn't appear to be well suited to managing security at a huge tech company. I also share the concerns about how equipped he was to deal with executives and board members. But yikes.
- akira2501 4y ago> There are all kinds of security controls to mitigate that threat that it sounds like Twitter isn't using. I mean.. they created a "God mode" for their service. It pretty much tells you where their entire approach to security of user data sits.
- TedDoesntTalk 4y agoGod mode, if compared to something like sudo or root access, is not a problem. It’s only a problem of the wrong people have access to it.
- MattPalmer1086 4y agoYes, the argument for not having disk encryption is completely bogus. Disk encryption protects against disposal or theft of physical storage. Companies like Twitter will be replacing disks all the time. The argument that nothing less than an end-to-end encrypted system is worth doing is also flawed. No, don't lock the windows and keep leaving the key under the mat, since we don't live in a castle. He attacks cyber activists for blocking business because security is not perfect. It seems he would rather have no security if it isn't perfect.
- LinuxBender 4y agoAdding to this, vendors like HP and Dell have a "keep your disk" option/policy so that you can have disk shredding vendors physically destroy the faulty disks. It costs more up front but is a high value option for some financial companies. I was in a company that had this policy with over 50k servers around the world and it gave the customers more confidence in our security and simplified part of our security audit. The shredding vendors recycle the material. I should add that our customer data was encrypted at-rest but we shredded the disks to remove any doubt that on-demand debug logging potentially leaked sensitive data. New managers and directors thought this was a waste of money but as the sales people could attest to, this process paid for itself many times over.