Sunday, June 23, 2013

NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden is Proof that Humans Are the Weakest Link in Security Systems

I've said it before in my other blog posts that regardless how secured you think a system is, there is always the chance of a compremise. You would think that out of all people the CIA would have known this.For this post, I'm going to focus on the biggest reason for system vulnerbility--humans. Internal controls may be put in place to mitigate risks and employees for whatever reasons will find ways to circumvent the controls. The computers, network devices, and softwares will malfunction here and there, but when you come their efficiency with humans hardware and software are more reliable.

In Edward Snowden case, he rationalized that he had justification to violate his organization's policy. NSA may have some shortcoming that violates the public's privacy, but I think Snowden went about this the wrong way. Just my humble opinion. Was Edward Snowden ethically right or wrong for leaking details of classified NSA mass surveillance program? Its hard for me to really answer that. The lesson to learn here is that people in your organization will be the most likely cause of information  leaks. People will always rationalize to justify the reason for violating company policy.

Some may argue that Edward Snowden just wanted publicity or some may say he was genuinely looking out for the American public. I say beware of who you trust with your information.

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