My Thoughts - TED Talks - "Think your email's private? Think again"

Personal privacy has become a huge concern in recent years. More and more, users relinquish control of their personal information, whether it be by accepting Terms of Service that allow for wide-reaching use of user data, or simply by sharing it on social media.

I watched a Ted Talk by Andy Yen titled “Think your email's private? Think again.” In his talk Andy compares sending an e-mail to sending a postcard, viewable by all intermediaries before reaching its intended destination. He discusses past attempts to resolve this issue, and the inherent flaws that kept them from being more widely adopted, more specifically, the learning curve involved in such tools as PGP. Because of its complexity, it is squarely out of the reach of the majority of users, save the technical savvy.

Due to the massive amount of revenue generated by advertising on the Internet, he argues that it is not in a company’s best interests to hold privacy in high regard, as the more that advertisers know about consumers, the better that they can leverage their products. It then follows, he believes, that in order for users to finally begin to reclaim ownership of their data, they must first make privacy a main priority.

One of the solutions that he, and the minds behind his startup, ProtonMail, envisioned, is an email client that handles all back-end encryption and decryption, coupled with an easy to use interface. By utilizing private/public key pairs, users can ensure that only the intended recipient can read the correspondence, and having the user take control of their private key, which would be generated on their computer. By removing the private key from the email server, there is an added level of security that ensures that those with access to the server are still unable to read the contents. This would allow for a secure sender/receiver relationship, while reducing the barrier to entry for most users.

Andy, a scientist working at CERN, like the rest of his team, does an absolutely phenomenal job of engaging the listener, as his obvious knowledge and passion convey a sense of sincerity and earnestness. He manages to give a brief overview of how we have come to this point, as well as paying respect to previous attempts to address this problem, as well as having designed a solid product for all the right reasons.

Keeping Up (With) Appearances - #BeardedInIT

Disclaimer: This is solely based on my personal experience. Those that do not fall into the pitfalls identified herein, I salute you, and there are many that could learn a lesson from your openness.

Keeping Up (With) Appearances: An analysis of appearance in Information Technology

As someone who has gone through a fair number of job interviews, I have noticed a theme throughout all of them, in fact, it is evident and pervasive throughout business culture, and indeed, all other industries. The theme I am talking about is appearance, and while it plays an important role, I would argue that our ideas of appearance aren't necessarily focused on the priorities they should be. A professional appearance is important, of that there can really be no argument, but what constitutes the point at where professional begins and ends, and how much personality are we truly allowed to express in the workplace?

I have seen employers snub off those with beards, or tattoos, or a wild hair-color, because they didn't feel they were representative of their business, indeed, I have friends that have encountered this very experience. The sad part of this is, that I have met some of the people that have been chosen instead. I have been their customer, and I have attempted to be as objective as possible, but in many of those cases, appearance did not make for an optimal experience.

Though I have been building computers since childhood, did troubleshooting for friends and family, and repaired almost anything I could get my hands on, I am new to the professional IT field. Not for lack of trying, but at the same point, I can look back and say that I could have gotten started earlier had I taken the right steps. That being said, I have never had anyone in the field dispute the quality of my work, or of my interactions with them, both professionally, and on a more personal level. Yet. The last word is important, in that I understand that will not last forever, or, more realistically since I just started my IT consulting company, Drake Consulting (shameless. Sorry, not sorry), much longer at all, as you cannot please everyone. I have a beard. I listen to industrial music, and I play video games. Beyond any of those things, I am passionate about technology. I get excited when new hardware architectures come out, scientific advances, discoveries in astronomy, mathematics, programming, AI. So, by association, I am passionate about the work that I do, and the work that I will do in the future. If I worked for you, I would be passionate about what YOU do, and I am not alone in this.

I would ask, as a business owner, would you rather your users utilized an application that worked quickly, efficiently, without crashing, but without the bells and whistles; or an application that had a gorgeous interface that took 15 minutes to load with a 50-50 chance of crashing before it loaded? As a carpenter, would you rather have a great looking hammer that hurt your hand, or the beat-up one with the worn in grip that got you through twelve hour days without blisters? Information Technology is a field centered on people, but fails in many regards to acknowledge it, choosing to focus ostensibly instead on 1s and 0s. If someone asked my about my (admittedly right this second, a bit scraggly looking) facial hair, how many companies would hire a person who’s response would be “Who has time to shave, when hundreds of security journals are produced every minute, and I am expected to know them outside of work?”

Indeed, even look at the government’s treatment of young security professionals, with FBI director Comey weighing in with this gem: “I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview.” Which is of course, an understandable concern, if of course it was on the way to the interview and depending on what state… Sorry, conversation for another time perhaps, but the point I want to make, is that it is marginalizing, patronizing, and probably some other kind of zing too, maybe one that insults your mother, I don’t know, but it hardly seems nice. I realize that this doesn’t fall under appearances, but at the same point, isn’t there a tenuous connection there? People tend to have vices and hobbies for the idea of relaxation or stress relief, whether or not those things are actually identified to help, but perhaps if your young applicants want to smoke weed on the way to the interview, you represent a formidable and imposing sight. Maybe, just maybe, the job that you are asking them to do is stressful, taxing, and mentally exhausting to do on its own, without the worry and stress that would come from working for a government that has historically targeted and systematically destroyed those that could have helped to insulate it from a lot of the risks that we see today.

Perhaps instead of locking up hackers, and throwing away the key, you should be lowering the entry barrier, and the pervasive aura of mistrust that you seem to actively work to perpetuate.

I do not feel comfortable referring to myself as a hacker. Not because of the dramatically incorrect stigma associated with that term, and wildly incorrect connotations and baggage that come along with it, but I believe that is a title of the greatest honor, when used by those who deserve it. These are people whose passion is understanding how things work, solving problems, and, I would say in the majority of cases, the ones that are truly deserving, trying to protect and help people. The reason I do not use that title myself? Because when put alongside those that I have been fascinated by in the industry, people like Raphael Mudge at Strategic Cyber, the work that Mitnick has done, and the hundreds, if not thousands of hours of materials through the years that I have read, watched, absorbed through osmosis, and often times, even struggled to comprehend from Black Hat, Defcon, Offensive Security, and so, so many more. And while I definitely know a little bit more than I did when I ran my first “Hello, World” snippet more than a few years ago, I still would not consider myself a developer, or a hacker, or little more than a glorified script kiddie.

But what I do know, completely, truly, from the bottom of my heart, is that you should not alienate those whose looks might be a little outside what you may expect, whose personalities show through a little more than you might like, and who may occasionally, in the privacy of their own home, choose to do whatever the hell it is that adults do in the privacy in their home, because it’s supposed to be just that, privacy. (Notice how I put an emphasis on privacy? I know a few organizations that could take a cue and do just that… ahem) Because, I know that chances are, those people might be so grateful for the opportunity, that they might just work harder, and be more conscientious of your organization’s needs than your nearsightedness might allow you to believe. But most of all, I know what it means to be #BeardedInIT.

Why I came to Milwaukee Area Technical College

Originally, I came to MATC to gain the general education credits that I needed to be able to enroll at Milwaukee's School of Engineering. My goal was originally to go into Materials Science and Engineering, due to my interest in the recent discovery as to the extent of applications that Graphene has in computer technology.

After reading more about the program curriculum, and speaking to Tony Stanislawski, I decided to attend the Network Specialization program instead. I could not have been more satisfied with the quality of content and instructor dedication than I have with MATC. The online program has allowed me the freedom to continue to work and spend time with my family, as well as incorporating my tendency to be more active at night, without seriously punishing me for an alternative schedule.

They have also made it easy to find employment and scholarship resources, and have been flexible when I have had extenuating circumstances. I have been confident and felt prepared going into each exam, and when I have had questions on a topic, I could turn to the instructors or other students and get a prompt response almost any time of day.

My experience at Milwaukee Area Technical College has motivated me to work harder and propel my education even further, both in class, and out. As far as success in the program, I have received the honor of being on the President's List for two semesters consecutively, I still maintain over a 3.5 GPA, and I have now started my own IT consulting business, as well as finishing a six month internship with Humana. I may have originally come to MATC for a few credits, but I stayed for the lifelong experience.