14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft wants to be able to tell whether it’s a human or a dog using the Internet. And the solution is rather simple according to Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer. The man that replaced Bill Gates at Microsoft along with Ray Ozzie (now chief software architect) proposed that users have the equivalent of driver’s license for the Internet at a panel discussion about Internet security (via CuriousCapitalist). What Mundie is proposing is that users need to authenticate themselves while online.
Such a proposition, and especially coming from one of the Redmond company’s top executives will undoubtedly face a barrage of criticism from the Internet freedom and anonymity front. Mundie envisions a world in which just as in the case of driving a car, people would need a driver’s license to get on the Internet. But not necessarily a proof of their abilities to navigate the web, but rather as a means to authenticate the person sitting behind the computer. Such an initiative is obviously designed to curb cybercrime.
There’s an extremely famous cartoon authored by Peter Steiner and published by The New Yorker on July 5, 1993, in which two dogs are sitting in front of a computer, and one tells the other: “On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog.” The proposal from Mundie is set up so that authorities would be able to differentiate between Internet users.
Mundie essentially sees the current paradigm of identity extended to the Internet in a three tier ID concept: for people, for machines and for programs. Specifically, there would be parts of the internet where presenting an ID, or authenticating would not be necessary, such as visiting google.com or bing.com. But just like when attempting to withdraw money from a bank, users would also have to own Internet authentication in order to do financial transactions online.
It is important to note that the details above are not part of a plan already set in motion, but simply of a discussion. To get Internet ID to function, the governments across the entire world would have to work together in a singular initiative. And of course, the impediments that prevent such a concept from becoming a reality might simply not be resolved.
It is simply quite unlikely that a single framework for Internet ID could be put together, have entire countries, entities, organizations and companies adhere to the same standards, and ultimately have end users renounce the illusion of Internet freedom and anonymity. Because let’s face it, Internet anonymity is an illusion. Users can easily be tracked, hacked, monitored. And then, there are markets such as China where Internet freedom is defined by the government.
At the same time, the flaw in Mundie’s concept comes from human nature. The people that are today able to hide themselves completely from authorities on the Internet will find ways to circumvent any ID system put in place. Driver’s licenses can be forgotten after all. So will Internet IDs.
Personally, I don’t see the author, or authors of the Conficker (Downadup) worm starting to use Internet ID when attacking computers, spreading malware or managing botnets. Do you? And just as John Dillinger failed to produce any ID when “withdrawing” money from banks, so will cybercriminals continue to work to keep their anonymity while performing illegal activities online.
While legislation needs to be put in place to bring “the law” to the Internet, and will probably also happen one day, that time has not yet come. Furthermore, I think it’s safe to say, that users won’t see a global Internet ID system set in place anytime soon. And even more, when the global Internet ID system will be live, cybercriminals will find ways to bypass it. Because after all, how many times did you, as a driver, broke the law? How many times did you speed, didn’t wear a seatbelt, didn’t respect a stop sign? And how many times were you actually caught? Simply passing legislation and imposing Internet IDs will do nothing to impact cybercrime, without an Internet authority to impose the rules. But a global Internet authority starts to sound a little too 1984 for me. How about you? I’d rather not be able to tell when dogs are using the Internet.