Hike Naked Day

Today is Hike Naked Day. If you plan to be on the Appalachian Trail today, you may encounter naked hikers such as these gentlemen.

How you deal with the encounter is up to you.

I did not hike naked on my thru-hike. I was in town that day and had forgotten about it. I hiked naked once on the Beamer Trail in the Grand Canyon but did not care for the feel of gear on my flesh or the idea of having nothing, however insubstantial, between all that rough rock and my butt. Sun exposure was a bit much, too.

The Other National Security

In warfare, an important tactic is to take out the enemy's command and control systems, thereby disabling the ability to manuever and respond effectively. In the modern world, information systems are a key component of command and control. Information systems are critical to commerce, health care, public safey and many other essential aspects of life. That's why I'm uneasy to read that government information systems and networks are increasingly at risk of attack by hackers and other threats.

Federal computer networks are being targeted on an unprecedented scale and recent high-profile compromises at two key federal agencies are likely just the most visible symptoms of a government-wide security epidemic, government security experts told a congressional oversight committee today.

[...]

"These attacks didn't affect just the federal government, but also the private sector, state agencies and other national governments," Sachs said in an interview during a break at Thursday's committee hearing. "What we don't know is what they were able to do, what did the attackers do after that? There is just no telling."

[...]

Federal agencies are fending off and cleaning up digital attacks against their information systems on a scale never seen before, said Jerry Dixon, director of the Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division. In 2006, the NCSD received reports of nearly 24,000 security "incidents," activity that ranges from attackers probing electronic networks for security holes to computer virus infections to cases of unauthorized access to government information resources. The NCSD is already on track to receive more than double that number of incident reports in 2007, Dixon said.

I can only imagine the size, complexity and difficulty of maintaining the massive systems that carry the information on which we all rely. I'm amazed that the system works as well as it does most of the time. I can also imagine how difficult life would be in the event of a wholesale failure. Information security is crucial for public and private health, safety and welfare.

That's why information systems and networks are perfect targets for America's adversaries. The investment is low; all they need is a computer and an internet connection. Disrupting a computer network doesn't produce the spectacular casualties of blowing shit up but it can wreak havoc that will cost the victim dearly. Combined with a blowing shit up attack, a network attack will compound the damage.

Perhaps a "surge" would do some good here.