Being autistic, my people skills can often lag. People-networking is definitely not my strongest skill but necessity has caused me to learn how to mask up and make connections, so I have a weirdly wide and strengthening network.
That infosec network is flashing red at the moment in all sorts of places, for different reasons, but all largely around diminishing opportunities that don’t involve supporting fascism or jumping to an AI firm and supporting algorithmic inequality directly.
Also a surprising amount of older infosec folks, mostly white, realizing their privilege won’t actually keep them protected and suddenly realizing they haven’t engaged deeply with community in 10 or 20 years, and need to in order to be resilient to what we’re facing.
I don’t know what the solutions are here, or even what momentary mitigations there are, beyond saying “I see you, I’m here to help how I can, let’s keep talking.”
Anyone else seeing this? Anyone have a goddamn clue what to do?
It’s a bit of a perfect storm, and a manifestation of the Omnicrisis. I have a few initial thoughts here.
First, it’s not just you. I’m seeing similar patterns, and not just in security. Tech in general has lost the safety and comfort it has enjoyed for some time. The causes are many, and interrelated, but the outcomes of fear and uncertainty cannot be ignored.
Second, I think there’s a sampling bias problem here in which security folks tend to be more ethically conscious than average. Dunno about y’all, but I got into this business to protect people and prevent harm. That seems harder and harder to do these days, when harm comes from all angles—even the very technology we are asked to secure. Those sensitive to these matters will struggle more than others.
Third, although maybe this is just me, but it is becoming increasingly absurd to function every day as though things are normal. How can anyone go about business as usual while maintaining awareness of the world around them? Even if you are privileged enough to not yet be directly impacted by fascism, the constant threat weighs heavily. That is going to manifest in all sorts of ways, including anxiety about one’s job.
IFIN is, at heart, a mutual aid organization. When done for the common good, that’s what threat intel is. But that doesn’t mean intel is the only kind of aid we can try to cultivate.
It is frequently said that building community is the first necessary step to resistance. I don’t know what comes next, but I want to face it together with all of you.