The Mirage of Internet Security: A Response to the Bash Bug

(Image Source: https://flic.kr/p/mjhubJ)

Recently in our class on the Law of Evidence, the discussion turned to the security of email accounts, specifically Gmail. Our teacher asked a general question, about how easy it would be for a person to hack a Gmail account, on a scale of 0 (extremely difficult) to 5(extremely easy). There was a smattering of response, ranging between 0 to 1.5.

But I would argue that the answer, always, is 5. Even if you disagree with that, at the very least, I would argue that is the presumption we should always work with. The Internet is awash with bugs and errors, and any security that is set up on it can be broken – the only question is how determined the hacker in question is to get your information, and how determined you are to protect it. And that is even before you get started on the devices connecting the average user to the Internet.