Last night, we had the good fortune of attending the Secrecy & Power panel at the Tribeca Film Festival. The session, which was quite fascinating, opened in an unexpected manner with a powerpoint presentation on hacking. From there, it turned into a more formal discussion that covered such timely topics as Edward Snowden, the Sony hack and WikiLeaks. In attendance were former covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, journalist Bart Gellman, filmmaker Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, Taxi From the Dark Side) and Ralph “The Ethical Hacker” Echemendia. Cynthia McFadden of NBC News moderated. 

The presentation and talk gave us much to digest. Here are some of the most interesting nuggets:

Hackers were not always bad guys

Hackers may get a bad rap these days, but when they came on the scene back in the 1960s, hackers were all about doing good. In 1984, journalist Steven Levy came out with a book about hacker culture. In it he outlined the principles of the hacker ethic, which included sharing, openness, decentralization, free access to computers and world improvement. Hackers back then weren’t all about plotting cyber attacks, but rather believed they were the heroes of the computer revolution. Levy is currently the editor-in-chief of Medium’s Backchannel.   

Hacking is as easy as using Google

It may be hard to believe, but secret passwords and classified documents are just a few clicks away on Google. During his powerpoint presentation, the Ethical Hacker typed in a few simple queries and all sorts of documents with sensitive information popped up. Better watch what you put on the Internet. 

It takes several months before a hack is detected

You could be hacked and you don’t even know it. On average, it takes 229 days to discover a hack. Once it’s found, it takes about 27 days to resolve it. The impact of a hack is determined by how long it takes to detect it. Currently, most companies don’t have the apparatus in place to figure out if they’ve been hacked. Facebook. Google, and Apple are seriously concerned about this and are investing millions of dollars to batten down their security and privacy practices. 

Your Social Security number could be floating out in the world somewhere

It seems that our Federal Government is not as tight as Fort Knox. Over the last three years 94 million records containing people’s personal information (like Social Security numbers), have been unintentionally leaked. Pretty scary stuff.  

Weaponized emails are the biggest threat today

We hope you know better than to click on a link in a spam message. It could get you into serious trouble. Termed Weaponized Email, these unwelcomed inbox visitors are hoping you’ll open and click so they can gain access to your device, computer files and personal information. They could even plant something on your computer, where if you have a webcam, they can watch you all day long. You won’t even realize you’ve been hacked. Super creepy.   

Leaks versus pleaks

When it comes to the business of exposing top secret or classified information, there are leaks and there are pleaks. Pleaks, which are a cross between a plant and a leak, are extremely common and are done by people in an official capacity who are trying to advance the interests of their political masters. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s outing of Valerie Plame’s CIA status is a perfect example of a pleak. Leaks on the other hand are unauthorized and done by people who are trying to call attention to something they think is wrong. Prime examples are Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning. 

The Patriot Act is up for renewal in a few weeks

The post 9/11 legislation that basically makes it okay for the government to spy on citizens is coming up for renewal at the end of May. Will the fact that people know the Patriot Act was used to get 4 trillion telephone records have any sway in the decision to renew it? Here’s hoping for some reform. 

Responsible disclosure or full disclosure

We have come to learn that the administration has not been totally forth coming when it comes to information. Julian Assange believes there should radical transparency and that everything should be fully disclosed. Knowledge is power, as they say. But others, including Bart Gellman and The Washington Post are more of the mind of “responsible disclosure.”  Not everything should be let out into the world, some sifting needs be done. 

No one entity should be the arbiter of information

The idea of who should decide what should be made public was a constant theme throughout the Secrecy & Power panel discussion. The consensus was that the administration has way too much at stake to be a good gatekeeper of information. And basically, there is really no one we should fully trust to decide what should be known and what shouldn’t be known. 

Coming soon: Bart Gellman’s book on surveillance and privacy

Pulitzer prize winning journalist Bart Gellman, who has led the coverage of NSA surveillance for The Washington Post, is writing a book on the rise of the surveillance-industrial state. He was one of the chosen few that Edward Snowden felt he could trust. Gellman had access to all of the leaked NSA documents and helped decide which stories to run. The book, which he is writing for Penguin Press, should be a real eye opener.