full-disclosure - [Clips] A small editorial about recent events.(fwd)

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Date: Mon Dec 19 20:45:05 2005
From: Simon.Richter at hogyros.de (Simon Richter)
Subject: [Clips] A small editorial about
	recent	events.(fwd)

Hello,

Jamie C. Pole wrote:

> Given the history of terrorist activity in Germany, I'm really  
> surprised that you feel the way you do - your government is  benefitting 
> from the intelligence that is being gathered as well.   Thankfully, Ms. 
> Merkel seems to understand that.

Which is why I'm glad her party is not in charge of anything that 
affects security.

It's (just to get back to the list topic) like in information 
technology: security is understood as job security.

If you are in charge of security for a group of servers, and your 
clients are questioning whether they really need your services as there 
has not been a single successful attack in the last five years, wouldn't 
you feel tempted to let a small-scale thing pass by your checks so 
everyone gets reminded that your job is very important? And, if no small 
thing comes up when your contract is due for renewal, wouldn't you think 
about pissing off some script kiddies in the middle east to get the ball 
rolling?

A gov^Wcompany that cared about security would point to their track 
record, perhaps present some numbers about number of attacks deflected 
in the last year and ask anyone who questions the need for their work 
whether they would, if they would have to pay any losses for security 
breaches out of their pockets[1], behave any different. I am certain 
noone in their right mind would answer yes.

The conservatives are part of the German executive because they blocked 
the legislative branch as soon as they were in the majority there, 
effectively disabling the government. They got reprimanded severely in 
the last election, with their worst result for many years; their 
relative majority by a few votes is largely a result of many social 
democrats voting leftist (new party) this time and their threat that any 
new executive would be blocked just as the old if they were not part of it.

I believe their behaviour is rather childish and am glad that the 
anti-war "coalition" still has a strong majority (or in fact even 
stronger since the last elections), so Germany will not join any war. 
Right now, the biggest threat would be the US staging a terror attack in 
Germany in order to gain support, which is why the US is seen as the #1 
enemy by many over here.

    Simon

[1] Which is the main problem in both cases: Responsibility is not 
linked to benefit.
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