The Invincibility Paradox - Republished (First Published in 2005)

Introduction:

Information Technology and its applications have contributed enormously to the amazing growth of International Business. The mind would be hard pressed to put forth a single instance where international trade without the advantages of technology is plausible. The boom in information technology and its related services has proved to be a shot in the arm for the process of global trade. This has also opened up new avenues for exploration that were never thought to be physically possible and financially feasible before. Though multinational companies are dominating the scene, local companies are also learning to compete effectively against them using information technology as their force multiplier. Gone are the days when companies needed to be deep pocketed to do well. Today any start-up with the right idea, the appropriate tools for the job and the will to implement the idea can make it to the big league. The paeans sung go on and on about the advantages of information technology and the essential role it plays in international business. The power of computing and networking has become the backbone of the thriving global business community today. One of the essential factors which drive the engines of growth is the sense of security that information technology applications provide. This secure feeling enables the businesses to conduct transactions, transfer funds, manage accounts, offer services, deliver solutions, take orders, confirm payments and do everything online. The dependence of international business on information technology has also brought out challenges which were never before imagined.

The convergence of technology and trade has resulted in the presence of another Achilles, invincible yet mortal. The inherent contradiction has fascinated many and made them examine this paradox which seems to go against the fundamental principles of nature. But it can be theoretically explained that it is a basic tenet of existence that immortality is distanced from invincibility. Invincibility is defined as being too strong to be defeated or having the power to be unbeatable. Immortality is defined as the ability to defeat death. Mythology tells us tales of invincible heroes like Achilles and Bhishma. They were invincible but immortality evaded them. They could not be defeated but they could be killed. We also know of the gods and deities. They were immortal but they could be defeated. The Titans subjugated the gods in Greek mythology. Mahishasuran, Narakasuran and Kamsan defeated the gods in Indian mythology. From times immemorial, invincibility and immortality have been at opposite ends of the scale. This sounds a bit odd. But logically it has been seen that defeat is the only thing that ensures constant growth and development leading to perennial existence which can be equated to immortality. Adversity is the mother of evolution and necessity is the mother of invention. Without adversity there is no scope for further improvement and there is a phase of dull and static equilibrium which is detrimental to advancement. Darwin in his theory of evolution said that the actual solution to the selection of species in existence is nothing but the survival of the fittest. This holds true even today in all situations where the available resources are limited and the users are many. Information technology applications are facing many threats in numerous varying forms. The daily operations of businesses are being threatened by more and more sophisticated dangers. The impact of these threats on the global business scenario is very powerful and causes a whole lot of problems which require increasingly complex solutions.

Review of Literature:

The fascination of humankind with immortality has it’s roots in the concept of Godhood that humans have adored, worshipped, envied and coveted from the infancy of human existence on the planet. For everything in the Universe, humans felt and accepted the presence of a creator. They knew this creator must have been in existence even before the beginning of the Universe and would be there after it’s end. From that evolved the idea of an everlasting force that was omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. The Holy Bible says that God is one without a beginning and without an end. Humans have always tried to attain immortality. Right from Adam and Eve trying to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge to become god-like to the quest for the elixir of life of alchemists, the secret of eternal life has evaded the clutches of human knowledge. But the paradoxical relationship between immortality and invincibility has been reinforced countless times through numerous illustrations. In Indian mythology, there are incredible ideas like the Brahmastra and other astras or divine weapons of war, the vimanas or aerial transport machines, the formations of battle, the mobile fortifications and military manoeuvres which once seemed just illustrations of the poetic flights of fancy of the authors. But now with the advances in science and technology we are able to equate the astras with weapons of mass destruction or tactical nuclear warheads, the vimanas with fighter aircraft and the mobile fortifications with tanks. So it is undeniable that the ancients were wiser beyond our wildest dreams and had access to amazingly advanced sources of knowledge which even now is beyond the grasp of our most technologically advanced nations. It is also becoming clear that the so called ‘myths’, as they were dismissed derisively earlier, are factual recordings of historical occurrences. So the Indian epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are no longer imaginative narratives but authentic accounts of ancient history. Adam’s Bridge between India and Sri Lanka is cited as undeniable proof of the exploits of the army of Rama on their rescue mission to Ravana’s Lanka. Though this might seem to be a digression, the implication is that if these are true then the rest of the facts in these epics are also undeniably true.

Coming back to our thread of discussion, we see that even during those times, there were two distinct bands of people – the immortals and the invincibles. Bishma, Drona and Vaali were invincible in battle but they were all killed. On the other hand, the Pandavas were vulnerable and could be defeated but they came out on top. Similarly Rama lost his kingdom and had to rely on the help of the Vanaras to win against Ravana. In the western world, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, had to die and rise again from the dead. He was defeated but he was immortal. So we can very safely assume that it is not a new phenomenon that invincibility and immortality are at opposite ends. Coming to another source, we see that in The Matrix, Neo is at first beatable even though he is the last hope of the free humans in Zion. The movie has at it’s core the same concept which is encapsulated in the epics. The moment Neo becomes invincible, his shot at immortality is void. Finally we see that to defeat Agent Smith, the rogue programme, he has to submit himself to the will of the very machines against which he was waging war in the first place. This is a paradox within a paradox. The rogue programme runs amok and the machines and the human anomaly come together to regain control. Such paradoxes are a part of life as we now must unquestioningly accept. Another illustration according to Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is the lone superpower today. Twenty years ago, it was thought that after the end of the cold war, in terms of militarily might the USA was in decline and that Japan had won on all fronts where economic progress was concerned. Many hoped that the USA would follow the UK in imperial decline because of the unilateralism and triumphalism it followed. There was a complacence and arrogance which was emphasized by the US’ unilateral actions in many international crises. Since Rome, no other nation has dominated over the other nations in terms of military power. Today the USA is more than a super power, a hyperpower, so great that the American military budget is equal to the budgets of the next eight countries combined and the American economy is equal to the size of the next three countries combined.

But this sense of invincibility has been rudely shredded by a dozen desperados with four or five commercial aircraft. The American hegemony is being more forcefully opposed today all over the world today than even during the height of the cold war. The aura of invincibility is vanishing with once ignored economies like China and Brazil competing with the US for global success. It does not mean that the destruction of the US is imminent. But it implies that unless the US is defeated, it could be destroyed.

In Bach’s Illusions, he says the final conclusion of a person’s life is his death. Unless he dies, his purpose in life is not fulfilled. He further adds that what for some is the death of a caterpillar is for others the birth of a butterfly. A metamorphosis has to occur to cause development. Thomas Bulfinch in his Age of Chivalry speaks of the invincibility of King Arthur and of his ultimate end. Considering all these it is hard not to come to a conclusion that the paradoxical relationship between invincibility and immortality has been dealt with in much detail and that it has been accepted as an inevitable part of life.

Methodology:

Since this topic is a bit abstract, a sincere effort has been made to explain it. The materials used for this study are mostly secondary sources. No primary data was collected used because the topic does not justify the use of any primary data. The data collection was done using only the internet. The major tools used for data collection were the Google site and the Wikipedia site. The data is analysed and used in the means thought most cohesive. The structure of the paper is a bit crude because there is no possible “correct” or “perfect” way in which this collection of apparently irrelevant material from seemingly unrelated fields can be put together. The data collected has been used only to illustrate only the topic concerned and has no scope or meaning beyond what it means here. Nothing should be read between the lines and attributions to anything unrelated to the topic are not implied directly or indirectly.

Again, this is not a topic where there is quantifiable data or something which can be plotted onto graphs and charts. The assumption which pervades the entire paper is to ensure that the reader understands, accepts and acknowledges the views expressed in the paper as plausible and probable. It is impossible to argue out all possible angles of any topic and there will always be such limitations even in the best researched paper. There are always exceptions to the rule. Some of the material used might seem to be twisted out of context and used to justify the views presented. But care should be taken to remember that all data collected were done with the view to strengthen the arguments for the case and the counterpoints are just to present a balanced view. There are also certain inadequacies in the data collected because many worthy references which might have been added to this paper were ignored. This was because it is physically impossible to go through the 372,000 references thrown up by a single search. Within certain limits, the subject has been dealt with as comprehensively as possible.

The Invincibility Paradox:

The information technology industry has today become one of the primarily targeted industries because of the extreme vulnerability it exhibits. The major problems faced by the information technology industry include piracy, reverse engineering, hacking and viruses. These and various other issues have forced developers to outthink potential malevolent threats. The reason why issues like a virus outbreak or software piracy hog the limelight is that the entire international business community has become more and more dependent on the IT industry for most of their needs. So anything that affects popular software is likely to affect all the millions of users who depend on that software for their livelihood. For example, Microsoft has for long been the invincible player in operating systems especially with its Windows line. It’s domination in some markets is so strong is that the competition’s market share is in decimal points. This strength of Microsoft has led it to become complacent and arrogant – the same two characteristic traits attributed to the lone superpower. The invincibility it portrayed has been torn to tatters by hordes of hackers and Windows is the most targeted OS by almost all viruses, worms, Trojans and malicious software.

The ease of use which makes windows so appealing to it’s users is also it’s greatest flaw. Lax security and the secrecy shrouding it’s source code has made it difficult for other companies to write protective tools thus making the users the victims. Pouncing on this opportunity open source software like Linux is being widely accepted today and used as a substitute for Windows. In the Server segment, Windows NT and Windows Server have lost ground considerably because they are not as good as they have to be. The feeling of undefeated pride made Microsoft a bit lethargic when it came to supplying patches, warning about flaws, preventing security lapses and providing updates.

Also, Microsoft Windows is a kind of lumbering mammoth nearing extinction. For every single useful programme in it’s array, there are at least ten useless programmes which a user does not need. This clutter of junk goes on accumulating. Another major problem with Windows is the way in which it insists on saving your every move. This also goes on adding to the bulk and might also compromise your privacy. The updates are just patches on a leaking roof and the entire superstructure is sure to come crashing down. Now a new update to the Windows line is coming up. Windows Longhorn a.k.a Vista is said to incorporate a new file system WINFX, a communications infrastructure INDIGO and a new graphics engine AVALON. There are also numerous security features like an inbuilt firewall, anti-virus security, User protection and many other frills. Considering Microsoft’s penchant for springing nasty surprises, we can only hope that it keeps it’s word. The beta version release had already been postponed to June. So the commercial release will be available only in late 2006. The illustration here is that Microsoft has to constantly evolve newer and better products to stay in the race.

The threats earlier mentioned may be examined in detail. In Information technology, a virus is a self-replicating program that spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable code or documents. Thus, a computer virus behaves in a way similar to a biological virus, which spreads by inserting itself into living cells. Extending the analogy, the insertion of the virus into a program is termed infection, and the infected file (or executable code that is not part of a file) is called a host. Viruses are one of the several types of malware or malicious software. In common parlance, the term virus is often extended to refer to computer worms and other sorts of malware. This can confuse computer users, since viruses in the narrow sense of the word are less common than they used to be, compared to other forms of malware such as worms. This confusion can have serious consequences, because it may lead to a focus on preventing one genre of malware over another, potentially leaving computers vulnerable to future damage.

While viruses can be intentionally destructive (for example, by destroying data), many other viruses are fairly benign or merely annoying. Some viruses have a delayed payload, which is sometimes called a bomb. For example, a virus might display a message on a specific day or wait until it has infected a certain number of hosts. A time bomb occurs during a particular date or time, and a logic bomb occurs when the user of a computer takes an action that triggers the bomb. However, the predominant negative effect of viruses is their uncontrolled self-reproduction, which wastes or overwhelms computer resources. Today viruses are somewhat less common than network-borne worms, due to the popularity of the Internet. Anti-virus software, originally designed to protect computers from viruses, has in turn expanded to cover worms and other threats such as spyware.

Prior to the arrival of the hybrid, worms were the fastest growing form of threat (see chart at right), and later became a key piece of the hybrid threat’s foundation. A worm is a software program that propagates, by itself, across a network. Unlike viruses or Trojans, it executes on a system without human intervention, and typically performs a task in which it attempts to find other potentially vulnerable systems. It enters a system by exploiting bugs or overlooked features in commonly used network software already running on the target, using an automated approach very similar to those employed by human attackers. Worms often exist purely in memory, avoiding the file system and making them invisible to file-scanning antivirus software.

Trojans are named after the mythical Trojan horse. Like that famous masquerade, Trojans appear to be a useful piece of software, but carry a dangerous payload that executes on the target computer with all the privileges of the user. A Trojan does not reproduce on its own, so it does not spread without assistance. Like a virus, however, it relies on fooling the user into running it as trusted software. Hacking is done by a brilliant computer programmer or technical expert who uses the skills to circumvent security systems, intrude into networks, break codes and enter servers. The problem with hacking is that it might be done by anyone using a single node connected to the internet. With the proper tools, a hacker is a deadly threat to security.

Reverse engineering is the process of taking a software program apart and analyzing its workings in detail, usually with the intention to construct a new program that does the same thing without actually copying anything from the original. Reverse engineering is commonly done to avoid copyrights on desired functionality, and may be used for avoiding patent law, though this is a bit risky. Reverse engineering is a often used by military, in order to copy other nations' technology, parts of which have been obtained by intelligence operations. It was often used during Second World War and Cold War. Reverse engineering software or hardware systems for the purposes of interoperability, for example in order to support undocumented file formats or hardware peripherals, is mostly believed to be legal, though patent owners often aggressively pursue their patents. Other purposes of reverse engineering include security auditing, removal of copy protection, circumvention of access restrictions often present in consumer electronics and customization of embedded systems. One very famous case of reverse engineering was the first non-IBM implementation of BIOS. The Samba software, which allows systems that are not running Microsoft Windows systems to share files with systems that are, is a classic example of software reverse engineering, since the Samba project had to reverse-engineer unpublished information about how Windows file sharing worked, so that non-Windows computers could emulate this. Reverse engineering of software can be accomplished by various methods. The two main groups of reverse engineering is analysis through observation of information exchange (most prevalent in protocol reverse engineering), disassembly using a disassembler, or decompilation using a decompiler.

These threats are being repulsed successfully by using software and hardware technologies like Antivirus, Firewalls, Access restriction methods, Encryption and Intrusion detection systems. Anti-virus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software. Anti-virus software typically uses two different techniques to accomplish this. They are examining (scanning) files to look for known viruses matching definitions in a virus dictionary and identifying suspicious behaviour from any computer program which might indicate infection Additionally, antivirus cleanup focuses on removing infected files, quarantining them or healing them. With hybrid threats installing backdoors, applying new vulnerabilities, and modifying the system, antivirus software lacks the ability to patch and protect against these types of damage.

A firewall is a piece of hardware or software which functions in a networked environment to prevent some communications forbidden by the security policy. It has the basic task of controlling traffic between different zones of trust. Typical zones of trust include the Internet (a zone with no trust) and an internal network (a zone with high trust). The ultimate goal is to provide controlled connectivity between zones of differing trust levels through the enforcement of a security policy and connectivity model based on the least privilege principle. Network security analysts distinguish between a personal firewall, a software application which normally filters traffic entering or leaving a single computer; and a traditional firewall, normally running on a dedicated network device or computer positioned on the boundary of two or more networks or DMZs. Such a firewall filters all traffic entering or leaving the connected networks. Firewalls determine whether to block or allow network traffic by simply looking at TCP/IP packet headers to determine if the packets are in accordance with predetermined security policy guidelines. They do not, however, examine the data load within any given TCP/IP network packet. Therefore, firewalls in general do not have the capability to recognize malicious code, nor any means to prevent its transfer to a target system.

An Intrusion Detection System or IDS is a software tool used to detect unauthorized access to a computer system or network. This may take the form of attacks by skilled malicious hackers, or Script kiddies using automated tools. An IDS is required to detect all types of malicious network traffic and computer usage. This includes network attacks against vulnerable services, data driven attacks on applications, host based attacks such as privilege escalation, unauthorized logins and access to sensitive files, and malware (viruses, Trojan horses, and worms). An IDS is composed of several components, Sensors which generate security events, a Console to monitor events and alerts and control the sensors, and a central Engine that records events logged by the sensors in a database and uses a system of rules to generate alerts from security events received. There are several ways to categorize an IDS depending on the type and location of the sensors and the methodology used by the engine to generate alerts. In many simple IDS implementations all three components are combined in a single device or appliance.

Until there is constant threat from outside, the IT industry is going to focus only on increasing the graphics quality of games, consuming more RAM and propagating their monopolistic practices. These threats are constant reminders that one single slip and they are out of the game. All the flaws being exposed are for the good of the society as a whole. There are also threats like credit card fraud, identity theft and phishing. But these rely more on the interaction of humans i.e. their curiosity or carelessness. Hence this constant yapping of the hounds on the heels of the cattle is necessary to get them home safe and sound.

Conclusion:

The Businesses today are more networked – and more dependent on being networked – than ever before. The advantages are obvious. With more connections come innovative, cost-effective ways for corporations to better serve customers, suppliers, investors and employees. But the threats are also increasing. The businesses must constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve their services in all respects. They must never let the threats impede their business. The theory that being the market leader or the number one in something guarantees perennial success is a myth. If there is a leader, there will always be a challenger. Invincibility does not guarantee immortality. If immortality is the goal, defeat is inevitably part of the deal. But one can learn from defeat using it as a stepping stone for success. The paradoxical relationship is undeniable.

Bibliography:

The Holy Bible

The Ramayana

The Mahabharata

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

https://google.co.in

https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/

https://www.jivemagazine.com/