[Dailydave] Some slides for a keynote

Richard Thieme rthieme at thiemeworks.com
Tue Apr 8 10:49:37 EDT 2014


great insights, as expected, and not merely "speculative."  to add to 
the theme, there are other reasons for the addictive behaviors too. I 
recently read "Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas" by 
Natasha Dow Schull and it details in granular fashion the evolution of 
slot machines as they have been designed to induce a trance, keep the 
gambler in the seat, and reinforce behaviors by all sorts of means, 
subtle and not so subtle. It's why they're replacing table games with 
slots as much as they can. It struck me that engagement with computers 
at the level of good hacking  (and game playing) has many of the same 
dynamics. Worth a read.

The part of the brain that thinks about things, the seat of "slow 
cognition," is in effect bypassed by channels to the parts that trigger 
trance, repetitive behavior, an inability to leave even when you gotta 
head for the loo. Slots addicts soil themselves, ignore people dying 
(literally) on the floor where they slid from their chairs, etc.  The 
reward is not weinning as opposed to osing but pushing that button again 
and again - playing the game itself is the reward. So the promise is 
that every push of the button gives you another game.

As to comments on the IC fostering addictive behavior, add that outside 
the IC you listen for the sirens announcing your bad luck, while inside, 
you are given a free pass AND collect $200. Once the fear of 
consequences and accountability for behaviors is reduced significantly, 
how can one resist?

As I said long ago (a keynote for what were then the few the proud etc 
at Def Con 4 1996) - if you want the best tools, techniques, and toys 
for hard core hacking, come in under the umbrella of the IC, where you 
have all that and can hack away to your heart's content - with the cover 
of "national security" giving you an out.

On 4/8/2014 6:28 AM, Halvar Flake wrote:
> Hey all,
>   
> on Dave's recommendation, here are some slides from a keynote I gave today at ISACA Nordic Security.
> It is non-technical (as keynotes are prone to be), and full of vague speculation. Perhaps someone will
> find the slides entertaining/useful/insightful:
>
> https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Sv8IHkBtBEXjSW7WktEYg4EbAUHtVyXIZBrAGD3WR5Y/edit#slide=id.p
>
> Cheers,
> Halvar
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