Cyber Security in Context

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff recently said, "The potential consequences of a cyber attack are very real and every bit as concerning as the potential of a physical attach on the order of what saw on September 11." Page 27 of the May 1 2008 edition of Redmond Developer.

The world where I live has gradually become dependent on a technology that demands skilled and well trained people for its very life. We so appreciate the convenience of it all that we turn the complexity of it all over to expert geeks upon whom we can call when necessity demands.

Disaster preparation is simply not a fun subject. Training for any kind of community wide disaster is done by a tiny proportion of the population - primarily those medical and law enforcement people upon whom falls the primary first responder responsibilities. The general public simply hopes that a problem will not arise in their life time or their neighborhood. That is no doubt as it should be since the odds of a major disaster in the USA are historically low. However questions need to be raised about the odds changing in the light of new developments.

The cyber attack scenario is of a different nature than other disasters. We have depended on oceans and borders with friendly nations. Tom Friedman's concept of "a flat earth" is where we actually live when it comes to electronic communication and digital processing of information. The borders are gone.

I choose to be mentally and physically preparing for a testing time for our society.

Looking for a Theology of the Ocean

For many years curiosity has led me toward a theology of the ocean - that which covers 71% of the surface of the earth. A brief surfing experience on Vancouver Island many years ago told me that the sea is where I belong. However I am a land based creature and live in the center of a vast continent. I am free to spin out ideas that may lead to some further understanding.

A question about this to a noted theologian resulted in no information. It appears that none of the world's religions have an actual theology of the sea. There are references to the mystery, majesty, and chaos of the sea. The sea is often used as a metaphor in religious texts or as a central feature in stories such as Jonah and the Whale of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Today, in a Google search, I was surprised by an article written by Nancy Victorin-Vangerud in Pacifica, June 2003. The title is "Thinking Like an Archipelago". She raises questions about the way humans live in relation to the sea. She refers to John Havea of Tonga who was a Seminary class mate in the early 1950s. Some lines of contact begin to develop.