Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

What will computing be like in 5 years?

Jayshree Ullal (Cisco): There are no secure perimeters. We need to be much more real-world. It's going to be based on defining trust domains — the school you're from, the location you're from — which will be different than now when everything is separtae, e.g., you anti-virus, your firewall, etc.

Esther: Will we be able to go to an Internet cafe and anonymously log on?

Ullal: You shouldn't be allowed to now. We need authentication and feedback mechanisms, etc. [Ack!]

John Thompson (Symantec): We should keep the Net environment diverse and learn where the bad parts of town are.

Scott Charney (Microsoft): We need both accountability and anonymity, so it should be done on the application layer. I want accountability when on-line banking but anonymity when engaging in political speech.

Thompson: We'll be in trusted communities but not only in trusted communities.

Bob Frankston: How do we make computers secure without limiting outlandish and outrageous innovation?

Steven Levy: How do we do this without losing our civil liberties?

[No time for answers.] Thompson: Phishing has gone up exponentially. The question is whether the info that's gathered is going to be used in the near future.

Ullal: We need better enforcement and more centralization.