Security will tighten up on the Internet, but not without some (more) pain. Host operating systems will be built, configured, distributed and operated under much tighter constraints than they have been. Firewalls will abound. Encryption will be added to links, routers and various protocol layers. All of this will decrease the utility of the Internet in the short run, but lay the groundwork for broader use eventually.
Predictor: Crocker, Steve
Prediction, in context:Steve Crocker makes the following remark in a 1991 autobiography he wrote for the Internet Society. Here, he is answering his own question: How will the Internet evolve? He answers it in parts. The fourth part is titled “Security.” He writes: ”Security will tighten up on the Internet, but not without some (more) pain. Host operating systems will be built, configured, distributed and operated under much tighter constraints than they have been. Firewalls will abound. Encryption will be added to links, routers and various protocol layers. All of this will decrease the utility of the Internet in the short run, but lay the groundwork for broader use eventually. New protocols will emerge which incorporate sound protection but also provide efficient and flexible access control and resource sharing. These will provide the basis for the kind of close-knit applications that motivated the original thinking behind the Arpanet.”
Biography:Steve Crocker was probably best known in the 1990s as the founder of CyberCash Inc. a leading Internet payments company. Earlier, he was program manager on the team developing the protocols for ARPANET in 1966. In1968, he organized the Network Working Group to develop host-level protocols for ARPANET communication. He began the Request for Comment (RFC) series of notes through which Internet protocol designs are documented and shared, and he wrote RFC 1 and many others. In1970, he worked with Vinton Cerf and C.S. Carr to publish the first ARPANET host-host protocol. He later became known as an Internet and computer business and security specialist. (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1991
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: Security/Encryption
Name of publication: Requests For Comments
Title, headline, chapter name: Who’s Who in the Internet
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1251.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Culp, William Jarrell