The ethics of coexistence: Can I learn to stop worrying and love the logic bomb?

摘要

Computer security attacks are frequent fodder for ethical analyses, but the ethics of computer security defenses are not often examined. We address this by considering a topical problem in computer security. In an age of so-called “advanced persistent threats” that lurk undetected on computer systems for long periods of time, it is increasingly unrealistic to expect a computer system to be permanently free of malicious software. Recognizing this, we posit the idea of a “cosecure system” - a cosecure system, by design, would allow legitimate software and malicious software to coexist safely on the same machine.