On Computer Security and Public Trust – On the Role of the Computer- The Research Center on Computing & Society

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William Hugh Murray

On the Role of the Computer

There have been three great intellectual revolutions in the history of mankind. The first was the invention of spoken language, from which we date modern man. The second was the invention of written language from which we date modern civilization. The third was the invention of movable type, from which we date the modern nation state and our modern world economy.

We stand now on the threshold of the fourth such revolution. It is being brought about by the rapid decline in the cost of digital technology. As a result of its new found economic advantage, digital technology can be expected to replace analog technology for almost all recording, computing, and communicating applications. It will cause those applications to merge into a single and seamless whole. We will no longer know where one ends and another takes up.

Like the earlier revolutions, this revolution can be expected to fundamentally alter our institutions, our culture, our values, and even our identities.

On the Role of Cooperation and Collaboration

We are defined, at least in part, by the manner in which we use information to cooperate and collaborate with our fellows. Man is first and foremost a collaborative animal. The emphasis in our culture on the significance of the individual notwithstanding, no man ever did anything of significance by himself. Sir Isaac Newton said “If I have seen farther than other men, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

Not even Mozart ever did anything significant all by himself. Mozart was born into a rich musical culture. He was born into a world in which the idea of musical notation had already been codified. He had mentors, colleagues, patrons, collaborators, and audiences. While he died at thirty-five, he left a legacy of work that is the envy of everyone that has succeeded him, no matter how long they have lived. Imagine how different would be our world if Mozart had lived in the age of computers or even of tape recorders. Imagine Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, or Dickens with the tools of Disney, Spielberg, and Lucas.

The work of these modern giants is signed by dozens; they do not work alone. They work in teams, cooperating and collaborating. The computer has no single father; it too is the result of teamwork. It is the result of, and the ultimate tool for, cooperation and collaboration.

On the Necessity for Trust

Cooperation and collaboration require trust. They require trust in the infrastructure and trust in the community, if not in the individual. If we are to enjoy the benefits of the automobile, we must be able to trust that most drivers will stay on the expected side of the road, most of the time. If we are to enjoy the fruits of modern agriculture, transportation, distribution, and commerce, we must be able to trust that the food supply will not be contaminated. Cyanide found in two grapes devastated the economy of the country of origin of the grapes, not from the danger of the cyanide but from the consequent loss of trust.

Suppose that a century ago someone had contaminated the medicine supply in a local pharmacy and that, as a consequence, seven people had died. Would we even have known that anything significant had happened? Would we have drawn any significant inferences about the purity of medicine in pharmacies in general or in neighboring states? Much less would we have turned an entire industry on its ear in response. The significance of such an event is that everyone knows about it; that my pharmacy, your pharmacy and the contaminated pharmacy have a common source of supply; and, finally, that we do not, cannot, know the motive or the extent. The changes in the distribution of patent medicines are not justified by seven deaths in a society in which more people than that die from the use of tobacco every hour of every day. However, they are justified to preserve the necessary and essential trust in the integrity of the medicine supply.

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