Maybe it's time to rethink this Connected World thing.
It seems to me that the problem is simply that, for uses beyond entertainment and everyday commerce, the internet simply is not very secure. Further, contrary to the belief (more accurately -- forlorn hope) of way too many, it seems likely that there is no simple fix. If there were, it would have been implemented 25 years ago. Encryption and two factor authentication have their place. But they really are not universal solutions -- especially for the physically handicapped, those who lack reliable cell phone coverage (lots of us in rural America) and not loaded on top of the truly awful user interface on smartphones where they are likely to be a substantial usability issue for many of us.
Truth of the matter is that if you are going to behave as the worlds' Protector General (liberals and many moderates) or the world's biggest and toughest bully (many conservatives) you simply can't put command and control of critical infrastructure on today's internet. Sooner or later you're going to annoy someone into retaliating, And retaliation via today's internet is quite inexpensive. Not to mention the ransomware problem.
The only solution I'm aware of is that used by the military and some parts of government three decades ago when last I worked in that world. Physically completely separate installations for secure and non-secure work. Even that isn't secure if an employee leaks data or engages in sabotage -- but that's a different issue. The trouble with dual networks/critical data partitioning/etc is that it's quite expensive. My guess is that in many/most cases, the costs of operating that way would exceed any savings from operating online.
I'm sure I'll garner a bunch of downvotes from those who don't want to hear what I'm saying. But kindly do me a favor, If you disagree, by all means downvote. But also compose a brief reply and explain why you disagree.
