"Can Management Fight 'Anonymous' and WikiLeaks?"

Can Management Fight "Anonymous" and WikiLeaks?

Published:	January 6, 2011
Author:	James L. Heskett

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/

You've heard the advice that writing down sensitive things runs the risk of discovery in a legal case. The wise don't do it. But this can be a costly practice, given our faulty memories. And in the age of WikiLeaks and the Internet, when every "secret" seemingly becomes public before long, the new advice is to avoid trying to keep information secret.

Recently we were reminded about the insecurity of information stored and processed on Internet-based systems, a series of online reprisals against the Swedish government, Amazon, the Dutch police, Sarah Palin, MasterCard, Joe Lieberman, PayPal, and Visa. The connection? Individuals and organizations speaking out against and refusing service to WikiLeaks. The attacker and the cause? A crowd (I don't know what else to call it, since it is not an organized group) that calls itself Anonymous and that was spawned by ideas exchanged on an Internet message board, 4chan, in defense of Internet freedom. The weapon? According to the Financial Times, "Anonymous encouraged 'hactivists' to download a simple tool-known as the 'low orbit ion cannon'-that allows their computers to be used to inundate the targeted website with requests and bring it down."

What has happened to Internet security, you might ask? Apparently it still exists to some degree for one third of the organizations that have taken precautions to protect themselves. It works, too, for individuals who are careful about changing passwords regularly (so that, if you're like me, you can't even remember your own password from time to time). But user names, passwords, and Internet addresses have been pilfered from sites like Gawker, reportedly giving the hackers access to planned web site changes and advertising strategy.

So the possibilities of damage are endless, ranging from random (at least not formally organized) theft by amateur hackers, organized theft by criminals, and efforts by international terrorists to target and shut down, or threaten to shut down, everything from bank accounts to nuclear processing facilities.

There has been an immediate call for risk management plans in those business and governmental organizations that don't already have them. But let's assume that such plans only deter the amateurs and criminals for fleeting periods of time and that in fact it becomes impossible to hide or otherwise keep information confidential.

What implications does this have for the management of a medium- to large-size organization that has become wedded to the economies and convenience of the Internet? For example, assuming that email even exists five years from now, will we be able to use it for business purposes? Will large data files have to be "disconnected" from networks so that their security can be preserved, with the attendant loss of connectivity with other files? Will the ultimate irony occur that the Internet becomes essentially useless to managers for strategic and other important matters?

What, if anything, can or should be done to combat Internet theft and terrorism? How will Anonymous and friends affect management in the future? What do you think?

My POV:
We had it coming. When government fails to cope with advances in information technology, we face the risk of individuals or groups/organizations exploiting such technology for highly dubious ends. This is not only true for terrorists groups but for business organizations as well.

The speed and volume of financial transactions through the internet are mind-boggling. When governments lack the tools to protect innocent investors from internet scams - who else is there to protect them?


This is not saying that government has to violate the citizens' right to privacy. But government must be able to monitor and regulate internet activities that adversely affect people's safety and welfare. I think it was Albert Camus who said: "If the center cannot hold, anarchy will reign."

Fidel M. Arcenas
TIEZA - Philippines