GLASS HOUSES: PRIVACY, SECRECY, AND CYBER
INSECURITY IN A TRANSPARENT WORLD
In Glass Houses: Privacy, Secrecy
and Cyber Insecurity in a Transparent World, Joel Brenner discusses and
sets forth several implications that affect every person in the United States. Glass Houses was published by Penguin
Books and has the ISBN Number of 978-0-14-312211-1. Glass Houses states that from the very
beginning that due to the nature of the Internet, computers, and networks that
connect computers, every individual, company, and the government as a whole is
in danger. That danger comes from
foreign nations, terrorist cells, criminal gangs, and individuals that are not
connect to the aforementioned groups.
Due to the various players involved in this cyber-environment, people,
corporations, and governments all have different threats and dangers. Through
current events and real life examples, Glass Houses discusses the
numerous threats and dangers that people, corporations, and governments are up
against as well as how to fix these dangers.
Joel Brenna’s main purpose for
writing Glass Houses was to inform and educate the general population as
well as corporations and the United States Government about the dangers and
threats that the Internet and advanced technology, such as computers and
military technology, has brought to America.
He informs the American public about how the world has become
transparent due to everything being shared online and how to secure their
information. Brenna targets the American
public to educate them on how they are venerable and about how they can
safeguard their personal information. Brennan also targets all sizes of
corporations to inform them about their security flaws and how they can
safeguard their trade secrets and intellectual property. Brennan’s last audience includes the American
government to educate them on the dangers that face from various groups and how
to prepare ourselves for the future of war.
The main thesis of Glass Houses
states that there are alarming threats to personal, corporate, and national
security from a new type of espionage and form the sudden transparency that
electronic connectivity has brought to all aspects of our lives (Brenner, 2013,
1). In addition to the threats, Glass Houses explains why people, corporations,
and governments cannot safeguard our personal data, corporate intellectual
property, or national defense secrets (Brenner, 2013, 4). Glass Houses
describes that we are in a period of typical international affairs, in which
conflict and symbiosis, struggle and trade, exist side by side in a condition
that is neither war nor peace, and which is both promising and dangerous
(Brenner, 2013, 7). Finally, Glass Houses ends with
suggestions on how to better prepare ourselves, our corporations, and our
government against the present dangers and any future threats (Brenner, 2013,
12). The main theme of Glass Houses
revolves around the fact that the threats facing large corporations and the
government are also threats that individuals face in their everyday lives. Therefore, people, corporations, and
governments are living in symbolic glass houses where no one is safe from
prying and everyone’s privacy has evaporated due to the fact of how dependent
everyone is on the Internet and information flow through computers.
Brenner begins his analysis
regarding cyber-security by discussing how individuals face threats and dangers
from being online and connected. The
main concern for individuals is protecting their personal information, such as
their social security number, their credit card number, and their bank account
information. Brenner manifests how easy
it is for cyber-criminals and foreign countries to steal this information by
several antics. These antics include
setting up fake websites for bank account log-ins that look like the real
website but is actual a set up where criminals can gather your bank information
(Brenner, 2013, p.35). The antics
employed by the gang of criminals can gain data and information quickly from
the comfort of their homes, decreasing the risk of getting caught, and
increasing the profits by being able to target more individuals at once
(Brenner, 2013, p.26). In return, any
information gained from individuals either is used by the criminals or sold on
a black market by people that can use the information. The main issue blocking individuals from
fixing this issue of identity theft and information theft is that individuals
do not take the threats seriously and do not employ safeguards to increase the
security of their information.
Corporations also face
cyber-security threats that are just as threating as personal threats are to
individuals. Not only do corporations
have to guard against their personal information being stolen like individuals,
they have to protect against trade secrets and intellectual property (Brenner,
2013, p.54). However, corporations are
profit driven so they do not protect against threats and dangers to their
valuable information and data because it cuts into their profit (Brenner, 2013,
p.64). Corporations also open themselves
up to potential threats by existing international and opening their websites up
to attacks by existing on the Internet (Brenner, 2013, p.65). Corporations are just as vulnerable as
individuals because their information and data is open to many more
attacks. Again, corporations, like
individuals, do not see the necessity to secure their information because they
believe that it costs too much and the costs are not worth the benefits. Also,
corporations do not believe in cyber-security because they like the ease of the
Internet and networks.
Finally, the United States
government and the military also are threatened and are in danger of various
cyber-attacks by many more actors. The
United States government and military are threatened by other nations,
non-state actors, terrorists, and criminal gangs (Brenner, 2013, p.69). The United States government not only has to
deal with physical threats but also cyber-threats. The cyber-threats not only threaten
information and data collected by the United States government but it also
threatens the infrastructure in America (Brenner, 2013, p.96). Finally, the government has to worry about
cyber-attacks becoming the new type of war and being able to fight China and
Russia in these potential wars (Brenner, 2013, p. 91).
Not only does Brenner discuss the
multiple threats and dangers that are posed to individuals, corporations, the
government, and the military, he also suggests ways in which to fix the
vulnerabilities in the government.
Brenner suggests that like the military, the civilian department
secretaries should begin a process of integrating their departments with the
other departments of government (Brenner, 2013, p. 214). Brenner also discusses that the government
can fix little details in trade regulations, role of service providers, energy
standards, tax code, research, securities regulation, and international
relations to protect everyone from cyber-attacks (Brenner, 2013, p.
227-239). He also makes suggestion as
how the private sector can protect themselves against cyber attacks.
Glass Houses overarching
subject matter deals with protecting ourselves against cyber-threats and how to
keep our information and data private. Glass
Houses points out how important data and information are and how the
exchange of information and data is becoming almost like currency. The data and information turns significantly
important because of the implications and uses the information and data
beholds. Floridi also holds this
implication in his book entitled, Information: A Very Short Summary. Floridi discusses the vast amount of
information and data that exists due to the nature of the existing technology
(Floridi, 2010, p.4). Floridi also
suggests that the implications that information holds for certain people
(Floridi, 2010, p. 22). For the threats
that Glass Houses suggests and outlines, information is becoming more
and more valuable to everyone. Floridi’s
book suggests that value will be more valuable to some than others by way
everyone interprets the data and information (Floridi, 2010, p. 49). After reading Floridi’s book, Glass Houses
is a perfect example of how information is formed, valuable, and can mean
different things to different people.
Glass Houses is an excellent
read for those interested in national security and personal security. It was very insightful regarding how
vulnerable each player in America really is and how to fix those
vulnerabilities. The book was
fascinating in the fact that it opens up one’s eyes to the future of warfare
and the future of how everyone should deal with their personal information and
corporate information. Due to the fact
that Joe Brenner was the former senior counsel at the National Security Agency,
the National Counterintelligence Executive in the office of the direction of
National Intelligence, and the NSA’s inspector general, he is highly qualified
to give an insider view on the subject of privacy, secrecy, and cyber
insecurity. However, due to Brenner’s
history working in the government field, his objectivity may be in question.
Although the objectivity may be in question, the book is still rather important. The book should rank extremely high in
importance due to the changing nature of the world we live in and the analysis
of the world the book gives. I would
highly suggest this book to anyone who wants to learn more about information
and information management because it provides an insight on how to protect
information personally and professionally.
Glass Houses paints the perfect picture of how the world is
changing and ways in which everyone can contribute to fix it.
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