Option 3 implies that we find an alternative solution that essentially
renders cybersecurity unnecessary.
What is needed is a revolutionary technological advance.
It's happened before.
The microchip was a revolutionary advance in computer evolution.
Before it's development, computers where constrained in capacity by the problem of
wiring together the increasing number of components.
The microchip over came this challenge by combining the fabrication of components
and wires into a single step leading to the incredible shrinking computer.
Despite its increasing power though,
the computer remains inherently vulnerable to cyberattack.
In lesson nine,
we attributed this problem to the fact that computers are basically stupid.
They are stupid because unlike humans, computers are incapable of making value
judgments regarding their actions, and will perform as directed regardless of
the outcome, even if the consequences are catastrophic.
A computer's blind adherence to instructions is related to
the three basic functions of its central processing unit.
1, fetch the next instruction,
2, execute the instruction, and 3, store the results.
This is the von Neumann architecture, so named for
John von Neumann, the famous polymath who first penned
the concept in his first draft report on the EDVAC in 1945.
To be fair, the concept had occurred to J Presper Eckert and John Mauchly while they
were building the ENIAC, the worlds first electronic digital computer.
Von Neumann drafted his report while observing construction of the ENIAC at
the University of Pennsylvania.
Be that as it may, von Neumann's report became the blueprint for
99% of today's computers.
And it's this simple formula that has created the devilish problem
of cybersecurity.
So the obvious answer is lets find a new architecture.
Perhaps the next biggest advance in computer architecture
is quantum computing.
Needless to say, it is completely different.
Computation in von Neumann machines is predicated
on the choreographed opening and closing of billions of microscopic circuits.
Computation in quantum computers is predicated on the quantum
fluctuations of only a few atomic particles packaged into qubits.
Ten years ago, the prospect of building a quantum computer seemed improbable.
Today, quantum computers are not only probable, they are commercially available.
The state of the art for quantum computers today
is comparable to the state of conventional computers in the 1940s.
It's still about getting the design and hardware right.
At any rate, do quantum computers hold the key to solving the cybersecurity problem?
Can they lead to computers that can't be hacked?
The answer is unlikely.
To date, there's nothing in their design that will inherently enforce
confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Yes, I am aware of current work on quantum networks
that will make it easier to detect interception.
But consider that this may alternately be used as a means to prevent availability.
Also consider that quantum computers will make it easier to break cipher codes.
And even if they don't, quantum computers still can't overcome the insider attack.
So long as humans require access to a computer, conventional or otherwise,
there will always be opportunity for malicious action.