July 31 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The Statesman Journal ran an article last week that called for more awareness of food security. Unfortunately, the concerns of Oregon are just as pertinent to Ontario or any other area in North America, for that matter. Three questions, if asked of the right people, could help force change in our present food security conundrum:

Where does our food come from?

A simple trip to a Toronto grocery store should provide some indication as to where a lot of our food is coming from: the U.S. and increasingly Mexico. This is not to say that it is bad that we import food from those countries, however, if we continue to become more dependent on food sources at great distances from the purchaser we may find ourselves without food in times of crisis.

For example, officials in the U.S. have considered shutting down borders should a bird flu pandemic hit. If such a pandemic were to hit in the summer months, Canadians might be able to feasibly feed themselves. Unfortunately, many North American cities have also covered most of the surrounding countryside with urban sprawl. Thus continuously increasing the distance at which even so-called locally food is produced. What if it hits, however, in the dead of winter as flu is oft to do? Even if borders remain open there is the threat of logistic support personnel refusing to drive long distances out of fear as a result of the pandemic making it difficult to bring food into a city such as Toronto. It wouldn’t take long in a panic stricken city for existing food supplies to be depleted.

How is our food produced?

Our farming practices in Canada have undergone a number of changes over the last two decades. As with similar trends in the U.S. we have moved steadily towards large, industrial style farming. Many of the animals in these “factory farms” are confined from birth until being shipped for processing. This means that among other things, animals are fed a steady dose of antibiotics to avoid infection rampant in such closed environments. It is highly debated as to what the effects of consumption of such meat are on humans, however, many studies are now emerging which indicate that consumption of such livestock does increase rates of antibiotic resistance in humans.

In the example of large-scale hog farming, continuous exhaust is necessary to ensure survival of livestock mainly because of the high rate of ammonia in pig manure. Such barns are built directly over a manure pit which collects and stores the hog waste. Without continuous exhaust of such barns the livestock (as well as any humans unlucky enough to be caught inside) could die in as little as 20 minutes. Although most barns are equipped with generators, emergency power cannot be expected to run for long lengths, at least not without a considerable source of diesel. As with most of our biggest security threats it is the fragility of our power grid that is disconcerting in this scenario.

Weaknesses in the power grid could impact our supply of pork and chicken in the short-term, however, the long-term effects of large-scale farming are perhaps a greater threat to national security. Contamination of surface water and degradation of air quality are but two of the adverse side effects of this sort of farming. The impact of surface water contamination can be immense, as was the case in Walkerton. It should be noted that in this example, it was run off from a typical family cattle farm as opposed to a large-scale operation.

This is to say nothing of genetically modified foods, which are increasingly being introduced into the North American diet. The long-term effects of GMO food consumption on humans are still being determined, however, of those risks being considered are: “production of new allergens, increased toxicity, decreased nutrition, and antibiotic resistance.”

How is food processed and distributed?

As with other modes of production in the West, we are increasingly centralizing food processing and distribution. Meaning that food is moved from farms to central processing plants where food is packaged and then shipped out to retailers. The e-coli outbreak in spinach in 2006 was a great example of the considerable impact weaknesses in centralized food processing could have on a population spread out across North America. In opting to centrally process food in order to service larger economic areas at lower costs we have opened up new and horrific ways to not only accidentally poison ourselves (and pets) but also create a serious threat to national security. It probably wouldn’t be that difficult to plant someone inside one of these processing plants in order to contaminate the food source for millions of people.

What can be done?

Despite the horrific course we have set ourselves on, there are a number of actions we can take to prevent any of the above scenarios.

We absolutely must build up local sustainable-scale food production. Through buying produce from local farmers in addition to applying pressure on decision makers to scale back on industrial farming you can help to directly diversify our food source.

Decision makers must implement new and perhaps more stringent food regulations regarding minimum nutrient values and additive use in food.

If we are to continue centrally processing food stricter regulations surrounding physical and personnel security must be implemented. In addition, increased regulations on processing standards will have to be considered.

Finally, public safety in terms of food security must override economic considerations. Food, like water and health, is necessary for survival. In other words, it isn’t something that we can afford to compromise.

Posted in Food Security, North America | No Comments »

July 30 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The IEEE Spectrum published a concise analysis of the Greek wiretapping scandal earlier this month entitled The Athens Affair: How some extremely smart hackers pulled off the most audacious cell-network break-in ever.

On 9 March 2005, a 38-year-old Greek electrical engineer named Costas Tsalikidis was found hanged in his Athens loft apartment, an apparent suicide. It would prove to be merely the first public news of a scandal that would roil Greece for months.

The next day, the prime minister of Greece was told that his cellphone was being bugged, as were those of the mayor of Athens and at least 100 other high-ranking dignitaries, including an employee of the U.S. embassy. For the article in full please click here.

The Greek case, which resembles a Hollywood movie plot more than reality, is a great example of the risks that come with modern security. Although the sort of attack executed in the Greek scenario is highly sophisticated and ordinarily unlikely - it is possible. The question as a result remains, do the benefits derived from such security measures outweigh the risks associated with them?

Often with a tool such as wiretapping it is difficult to find an answer to the above question. In order to come to an informed conclusion full disclosure on the rates of and costs associated with wiretapping broken down by criminal categories would need to be made and a proper analysis of the aforementioned versus the social benefits (both in terms of lives and resources saved) derived from the use of wiretaps carried out. Unfortunately, as with most security measures, those in charge of oversight feel it a breach of security to facilitate such analysis. Furthermore, when technology is involved in a security measure many people find it easier to let those who are experts make the decisions. Leaving only a very small group of people seeking answers and attempting to pass the best measures possible.

Security, however, concerns us all and there will be no quick technological fix to human problems. This is not to say that we should not keep tools such as wiretapping up to date, indeed, we must. How we enhance such measures, though, must be reasonable and commensurate to the social service those enhancements provide. Before improving existing measures such as wiretaps and identity documents, we might want to ask ourselves just how relevant those traditional approaches to security are in today’s world?

Posted in Wiretapping & Surveillance, Europe | No Comments »

July 27 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

In the film “Idiocracy” the creators of “Office Space” and “King of the Hill” present a satirical view of a North American future. Private Joe Bauers (played by Luke Wilson) is forced into a highly classified hibernation program. Through a comedy of errors, Bauers is frozen for 500 years as opposed to the planned one year, waking up to find a world clearly devolved along the lines of “Jerry Springer” meets “Jack Ass“. It’s a pure numbers game: intelligent people ceased breeding while those less intellectually inclined bred in droves.

Despite the vulgarity in the film, the warning presented in “Idiocracy” is resonant. If emphasis is continually placed on base entertainment and aesthetics at the detriment of education and personal development, we (at least in North America) could find ourselves with greater security concerns than most wish to imagine.

Proper systemic analysis today can prevent “Idiocracy” later. The responsibility of taking the necessary steps doesn’t rest solely with our political, cultural or spiritual leaders who, by and large, set the course we are on already. Neither the delegation of authority to an elected ‘representative’ nor acceptance of a religious doctrine should absolve an individual from having a personal responsibility for what happens to him or her, and the larger community of which they are a part. Unfortunately, nearly everyone from leaders to average citizens are too preoccupied with today to work at avoiding further unpleasantness tomorrow.

Perhaps if everyone took the time to watch “Idiocracy” with an open mind and consider the future possibilities, there might be impetus enough for change.

Posted in North America | No Comments »

July 25 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Media coverage of climate change has steadily increased since the beginning of this year. Oddly, there is still debate as to what degree humans are responsible for these changes. This seems to be a rather senseless dialogue given that extreme weather is already plaguing nearly all of Europe, the U.S., New Zealand, China and Peru. Furthermore, anyone who has spent any time in a highly polluted city can tell you, even if humans didn’t directly cause these changes to the environment our behaviour certainly isn’t helping matters.

At what point in time are humans going to realize that every individual has a responsibility when it comes to their own security as well as that of the greater whole? Will it be too late to significantly alter our current modes of production and rates of consumption to have any impact? Time can only tell.

Posted in Environment, North America, Asia, Europe | No Comments »

July 24 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

Here is an interesting article by Paul B. Farrell published in MarketWatch. Finally, some analysts are beginning to assess the dire state of U.S. finances.

Foreign banks are dumping dollar reserves, while we gorge on cheap toys and bad pet food. Actually, our biggest “terrorist” threat is internal: Distorted values are downgrading our nation’s “creditworthiness.” We’re like out-of-control kids with stolen credit cards, spending our future with no plans to repay.

Recently Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs (International), appeared before the U.S. House Budget Committee to “discuss an issue of great economic, financial and national security importance to our country — the growing dependence of the United States on foreign capital.” Currently we import $1 trillion new debt annually, with no repayment plans. That’s a historic break from over two centuries of American policy.

Hormats was in Washington with warnings from his brilliant new book, “The Price of Liberty: Paying for America’s Wars.” He traces the history of American wartime financing from the Revolution through the War of 1812, the Civil War, the two World Wars and the Cold War to the present.

Conclusion: “One central, constant theme emerges: sound national finances have proved to be indispensable to the country’s military strength” and long-term national security. Click here for more.

Posted in Economic Issues, North America | No Comments »

July 19 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The U.S. National Intelligence Council has published its National Intelligence Estimate entitled “The Terrorist Threat to the US Homeland”. The report reaffirms long time U.S. concerns that potential terrorist attacks are among the biggest threats to national security.

Al-Qa’ida is and will remain the most serious terrorist threat to the Homeland… Although we have discovered only a handful of individuals in the United States with ties to al-Qa’ida senior leadership since 9/11, we judge that al-Qa’ida will intensify its efforts to put operatives here.

Although not intended to belittle the deaths of those who died as a result of the attacks on September 11, 2001, one has to wonder at official U.S. concerns regarding the security of its citizens. The total number of deaths from those attacks was just under 3000. It is estimated that each year some 300,000 people die as a result of obesity alone in the U.S.

Indeed, the life expectancy rate of Americans is likely to decline as a result of obesity.It appears that there are more pressing domestic issues deserving of increased attention and which might affect overall U.S. security in the long run. After all, however dramatic terrorist attacks are due to the rapidity of attacks and the unending media coverage afforded them, “a handful of individuals in the United States” will be hard press to catch up to the numbers obesity kills each year.

Posted in Health Preparedness, North America | No Comments »

July 18 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The approach Western countries have taken towards Russia since the fall of the USSR is an unfortunate one. Indeed, at times one is hard pressed to find much change in attitudes at all between that of a Cold War foe and a post-communist friend.

Many observers have been quick to implicate (and frequently blame) Russia in a host of criminal incidents, more recently, the deaths of Alexander Litvinenko and Anna Politkovskaya and cyber attacks on Estonian interests and a growing number of websites originiating from inside of Russia. The prevailing message given to the public that does still keep informed on international affairs is one of unquestionable guilt on the part of Russia.

Western media is often quick to take sides on issues, commonly basing anti-Russian stances on the testimony of alleged victims such as Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Boris Berezovsky. This would be the same as major media outlets taking Enron’s Kenneth Lay’s claims that he would be prejudged and turning him into a pinup boy for a fight against American authoritarianism.

Even pictures of Putin in the Western media are increasingly those which paint the Russian president in a passionate, raving state reminiscent of the Soviet leader Krushchev’s public outbursts.

None of this is to say that Russia has entirely clean hands, however, it shouldn’t be naively accepted that the Kremlin is always guilty either. Expecting Cold War machinations from Russia just might beget Cold War reactions , unless the intent is to create an image of a rising Red menace again or deflect attention from what is going on at home. It would be a pity if no real progress has been made in terms of international relations in a post-communist world, however, it seems to be the reality.

Posted in North America, Europe, Politics | No Comments »

July 17 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The following five points are taken from a Builder AU article criticizing a German law passed in May, which makes owning “computer programs whose aim is to commit crimes” illegal. The author, Nick Gibson, makes some pretty reasonable points:

Reason Number One: It’s hard to know exactly if a given program is aimed at committing a crime. Is it enough to simply be a popular tool with criminals? A port scanner can help you find vulnerable ports in a computer which you can then either secure or exploit to gain access. How about password recovery tools — you can use them to determine an old password, or crack other’s passwords? Packet sniffers — network analysis or eavesdropping? There are a whole range of tools that are commonly used by hackers, both benign and malignant, that can be used to commit a crime — may in fact be intended to commit a crime — which have entirely legitimate and innocent uses as well.

Reason Number Two: Guns have a much smaller effective range than hackers. A local gun restriction law — if it works — can curb gun violence locally. A law restricting the use of hacking tools in Germany is going to do German businesses no good at all against a hacker from Nigeria, Russia, China or the United States (taking some countries semi-randomly), all it does is restrict their abilities to defend themselves. The Internet is global, national laws for protection are, at best, paper shields.

Reason Number Three: In the majority of countries that restrict possession of weapons, security professionals are licensed to carry them - there’s nothing like that in the German law. Only the most radical gun restriction proponents argue to strip police of their handguns, but many of the same people seem to have no problem with the blanket banning of “hacking tools”. Computer security professionals need to be able to use whatever tools they can find to protect their businesses, what good is penetration testing if you don’t use the same resources that an attacker would use?

Reason Number Four: It will cripple education. If you’re studying computer science how can you learn networking without using a port scanner? How can you study encryption without learning how it is broken? How can you learn application programming without understanding buffer overflowing? If the tools to research these kind of things are illegal, then the standard of programming and the level of knowledge of average, law abiding developers goes down. Worse, they might not even realise that there are gaps in their understanding.

Reason Number Five: It’s an oft repeated statistic that a gun in the house is more likely to kill a family member than an intruder — that is, many incidents of gun violence are not caused by criminals. Some are, sure, but it’s dead easy to shoot someone. Malicious hacking on the other hand is planned, premeditated and takes a great deal of knowledge and practise. Nobody can break into a safe in the heat of the moment, and you can’t set up a botnet by accident. One hundred percent of the people you want to stop using hacking tools are going to ignore this law because they know they’re breaking the law anyway. To put it simply, a law such as the German one just won’t work to cut down on electronic break ins. To read the full article please click here.

Posted in Cyber Crime, Europe | No Comments »

July 16 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported last week that a U.S. federal appeals court had overruled “the only judge who held that a controversial surveillance effort by the National Security Agency was unconstitutional.” The ruling highlights the weakness in regulating Intelligence Intercept or the use of communications interception by intelligence agencies.

The court did not rule on the spying program’s legality. Instead, the decision found that the American Civil Liberties Union and the academics, lawyers and journalists who brought the case did not have standing to sue, because they could not show they had been direct targets of the surveillance.Click here to read the article

Although Lawful Interception enables law enforcement agencies the ability to intercept communications of suspected criminals under strict regulations, Intelligence Intercept occurs with no regulations and often far from prying eyes. As the article illustrates, it is difficult to prove that one has been illegally wiretapped by an intelligence agency and thus judicial recourse is difficult.

As rates of Intelligence Intercept continue to soar, it will be interesting to assess the impact on the currently law abiding percentage of the population. It isn’t unreasonable to assume that they too are being covertly intercepted under the guise of intelligence operations. Should such approaches as Intelligence Intercept prove useless in preventing crime while infringing on constitutional rights, currently law abiding citizens may begin to feel squeezed.

Posted in Wiretapping & Surveillance, North America | No Comments »

July 10 2007 by The Systemic Analyst.

This report by Max Abrahms presents an interesting perspective on the inefficiency of terrorism and the, perhaps, skewed perceptions of terrorism held by many societies, particularly in the West. It raises a number of questions regarding not just the use of terrorism but the reactions of victims of terrorism, ultimately presenting a compelling argument against the use of terrorism to achieve goals as well as against the current prevailing approaches to countering terrorism.

Posted in Security Measures, North America | No Comments »