Terminal Compromise, Winn Schwartau [sight word books txt] 📗

sighed Henry Kennedy. “The President gave you the task, I

heard him, and I’m here to support his efforts. I don’t have to

agree . . .but it would help.”

*

“Don’t worry. The speech will make him sound like an expert,

like he actually knows what he talking about. Not a man who

thinks Nintendo is Japanese slang for nincompoop.” Phil Musgrave

called Henry Kennedy’s office in the basement.

Phil joked with Henry about the President’s legendary technical

ineptness. One time while giving a speech to the VFW, the sound

went out. Trying to be helpful, the President succeeded in

plugging an ‘in’ into an ‘out’ which resulted in a minor amount

of smoke, an embarrassing false security alert, and the subse-

quent loss of any sound reinforcement at all.

“You know how I feel about him, Phil,” said Henry with concern.

“I support him 110%. But this is a new area for all of us. We

don’t have the contingency plans. Defense hasn’t spent years

studying the problem and working out the options or the various

scenarios. Phil, until recently viruses and hackers were consid-

ered a non-problem in the big picture.”

“I know, Henry, I know, but the politicians had to rely on the

experts, and they argued and argued and procrastinated . . .”

“And Congress, as usual, didn’t do shit.” Kennedy completed the

statement. “That doesn’t change the fact that he’s winging it.

Christ, we don’t even know the questions much less the answers

and, well, we know he calls 911 to change a lightbulb.” His

affection for the President was clear through the barb. “And

you know what really pisses me off?”

“What’s that?”

“Jacobs. He seems pleased with the turn of events.”

“He should,” agreed Phil nonchalantly. “He just won a major

battle. He’s got security back under his thumb. A nice politi-

cal coup.”

“No, not that,” Henry said cautiously. “It’s just that I think

he’s acting too much the part of the renegade. Do you know what

I mean?”

“No, not at all,” laughed Phil. “He’s just playing it his way,

not anyone elses. C’mon, now, you know that.”

“I guess . . .”

“Besides, Henry,” he said glancing at his watch. “It’s getting

to be that time.” They agreed to watch the speech from the

sidelines, so they could see how the President’s comments were

greeted by the press.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States.” An

assistant White House press agent made the announcement to the

attendant Washington press pool. The video was picked up by the

CNN cameras as it was their turn to provide a feed to the other

networks. Sunday evening was an odd time to call a press confer-

ence, but everyone had a pretty good idea that the subject was

going to be computers. Thus far, government comments on the

crisis had come from everywhere but the White House.

The President rapidly ambled up to the podium and placed his

notes before him. He put on his glasses and stared at the camera

somberly. It was speeches that began this way, without a prean-

nounced subject matter, that caused most Americans who grew up

during the Cold War to experience a sinking feeling in their

stomachs. They still thought about the unthinkable. As usual

the press corps was rapt with attention.

“Good evening,” the President of the United States began slowly.

“I am speaking to you tonight on a matter of great concern to us

all. A subject of the utmost urgency to which we must address

ourselves immediately.

“That subject is, information. The value of information.

“As I am sure most of you are aware, one man, Taki Homosoto,

threatened the United States this last week. It is about that

very subject that I wish to speak to the country, and the world.”

The President paused. He had just told the country what he was

going to say. Now he had to say it.

“For all practical purposes, the United States is undergoing an

electronic Pearl Harbor, and the target is one of the most cru-

cial segments of our way of life: Information.

“Information. What is information? Information is news. Infor-

mation is a book, or a movie or a television show. Information

is a picture, it’s a word and it’s a gesture. Information is

also a thought. A pure idea.

“Information is the single commodity, a common denominator upon

which all industrial societies must rely. Data, facts, opinions,

pictures, histories, records, charts, numbers. Whether that data

is raw in nature, such as names, addresses and phone numbers, or

it consists of secret governmental strategies and policies or

proprietary business details, information is the key building

block upon which modern society functions.

“Information is the lifeblood of the United States and the world.

“As first steam, and then coal and then gas and oil, now informa-

tion has become an integral driving force of the economy.

Without information, our systems begin to collapse. How can

modern society function without information and the computers

that make America what it is? Effectively there are no longer

any nationalistic boundaries that governments create. Information

has become a global commodity. What would our respective cul-

tures look like if information was no longer available?

“We would not be able to predict the weather. Credit cards would

be worthless pieces of plastic. We would save less lives without

enough information and the means to analyze it. We need massive

amounts of information to make informed decisions in government

policies and actions.

“What if banks could no longer transfer money because the comput-

ers were empty? How could the airlines fly if there were no pas-

senger records? What good is an insurance company if its clients

names are nowhere on file? If there was no phone book, who could

you call? If hospitals had no files on your medical history,

what treatment is required? With a little effort, one can imag-

ine how difficult it would be to run this planet without informa-

tion.

“Information, in short, is both a global and a national strate-

gic asset that is currently under attack.

“Information and the information processing industry has come to

represent a highly significant piece of our gross national

product; indeed, the way we live as Americans, enjoying the

highest standard of living in the world, is due in large part to

the extraordinary ability of having information at our fingertips

in a second’s notice. Anything we want in the form of informa-

tion can literally be brought into our homes; cable television,

direct satellite connections from the back yard. The Library of

Congress, and a thousand and one other sources of information are

at our fingertips from our living room chair.

“Without information, without the machinery that allows the

information to remain available, a veritable national electronic

library, the United States steps back thirty years.

“Information is as much a strategic weapon in today’s world as is

the gun or other conventional armaments. Corporate successes are

often based upon well organized data banks and analytic tech-

niques. Government functions, and assuredly the Cold War was

fought, on the premise that one side has more accurate informa-

tion than its adversary. Certainly academia requires the avail-

ability of information across all disciplines. Too, the public

in general relies upon widespread dissemination of information

for even the simplest day to day activities.

“It is almost inconceivable that society could function as we

know it without the data processing systems upon which we rely.

“It is with these thoughts that those more expert than I can

speak at length, but we must realize and accept the responsibili-

ty for protecting that information. Unfortunately, we as trust-

ing Americans, have allowed a complacency to overshadow prudent

pragmatism.

“Over the last weeks we have begun to see the results of our

complacency. The veins of the nation, the free flow of informa-

tion, is being poisoned.

“Both the government and the private sector are to blame for our

state of disarray and lack of preparedness in dealing with the

current crisis. We must be willing, individually and collective-

ly, to admit that we are all at fault, then we must fix the

problem, make the sacrifice and then put it behind us.

“It is impossible for the Government to deny that we have failed

miserably in our information security and privacy implementation.

Likewise, the value of the accumulation of information by the

private sector was overlooked by everybody. Fifteen years ago,

who could have possibly imagined that the number of businesses

relying on computers would have jumped more than a hundred thou-

sand fold.

“Today, the backbone of America, the small businessman,

20,000,000 strong, the one man shop, provides more jobs than the

Fortune 1000. And, the small businessman has come to rely on

his computer as Big Business has for decades. His survival, his

success is as critical to the stability of the United States’

economy as is a General Motors or an