http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-05-29-deviant-thinkers-security_N.htm?csp=34
Looking to prevent the next terrorist attack, the Homeland Security Department is tapping into the wild imaginations of a group of self-described “deviant” thinkers: science-fiction writers.
“We spend our entire careers living in the future,” says author Arlan Andrews, one of a handful of writers the government brought to Washington this month to attend a Homeland Security conference on science and technology.
Those responsible for keeping the nation safe from devastating attacks realize that in addition to border agents, police and airport screeners, they “need people to think of crazy ideas,” Andrews says.
The writers make up a group called Sigma, which Andrews put together 15 years ago to advise government officials. The last time the group gathered was in the late 1990s, when members met with government scientists to discuss what a post-nuclear age might look like, says group member Greg Bear. He has written 30 sci-fi books, including the best seller Darwin’s Radio.
Now, the Homeland Security Department is calling on the group to help with the government’s latest top mission of combating terrorism.
*headdesk* I … I don’t even know what to say to this. The person who reported the article in /. says, “Here’s a suggestion: 9-11 could have been prevented with locks on the cockpit door.” I find myself of similar mind – we don’t need science-fiction-esque technology policing our minds, punishing us for our future actions, we need to follow through on the changes we’ve already agreed need to happen.
Regardless of how you feel about whether the Iraq war is necessary or not, don’t you think that it would have been wise of the government to spend, say, a scant billion dollars to update airport security throughout the country, increase barriers to sensitive infrastructure, and move the nation’s internet backbone to IPv6, which I gather is less vulnerable* to DDoS attacks like Estonia is facing right now?
PS if you have any thoughts on this, please feel free to comment – most of my LJ list didn’t get this far down my admittedly long entry.
* less vulnerable, but still vulnerable. IPv6 is more about preventing spoofing, as far as that goes, than Distributed Denial of Service.
