To the editor: I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I read Michael Hiltzik’s column on the CrowdStrike fiasco with horror and amusement, a dash of glee and not a hint of surprise. If we continue to abdicate our autonomy to the profit-driven tech overlords, we can expect more of the same.
Reading about CrowdStrike’s lack of foresight, I take solace in the U.S. Navy, which trains officers in the use of celestial navigation. This ensures that if GPS technology is hacked, attacked by foreign agents, or infected with some other form of chronic cyber disease, at least someone can read the stars and ensure that the ship and crew are not lost at sea.
So, in a mix of Shakespeare and “Home Alone,” it seems appropriate to say that the fault lies not in our stars (dear Brutus), but in ourselves, and we are what the French would call “The incompetent.'”
Wendy Schramm, Vista, California.
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To the editor: As a physicist who suffered through the recent disruption to air travel due to the CrowdStrike outage, I feel compelled to comment on this entirely unnecessary and avoidable tragedy.
Survival in the natural world requires diversity and balance. When a system (natural or man-made) is too homogeneous and interconnected, it is easily disrupted if something goes wrong.
Today, we rely heavily on computers, which store and process vast amounts of information at a speed that far exceeds human capabilities. However, part of that computational power lies in the interconnectedness and uniformity of computing systems, which is why this disruption was so catastrophic.
It is essential that all public and private entities have backup plans and alternative platforms with different operating systems and programs to prevent the catastrophic consequences of failures in connected technology.
Monopolies in any field are not good for the proper functioning of society and should be discouraged, particularly in information systems.
Michael Pravica, Henderson, Nevada.
