[kictanet] (Warning: high risk of targeted Social Engineering Virus!) Fwd: [Internet Policy] A summary of the report of the UN High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation

Thu Jun 13 17:44:05 EAT 2019

The point Patrick.

You have been understood though. Dont we all love the Internet because of
variety.

Regards

On Thu, 13 Jun 2019 5:37 pm Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet, <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Listers,
>
> This model of "*don't worry, we'll read the policy/research for you and
> summarize*" (i.e. dumbing down research & policy for
> negligent/lazy/disorganized policy practitioners) is very dangerous in many
> ways. It is not a wise solution to "tl;dr" (too long didn't read) and
> should be actively discouraged.
>
> Rationale: (and I invite cyber-security and internet safety experts to
> quip in with their thoughts/perspective please):
>
> 1. The idea of *unofficial versions of important policy documents* that
> have not been independently vetted or certified - and targeted at
> "time-poor (sic)" policy practitioners - should trigger alarm bells in this
> day and age. In the case of https://digitalcooperation.org/ report , what
> is wrong with their *official 4-page Executive Summary which is plainly
> written, in six UN languages*)? If policy practitioners can't understand
> it, perhaps the question to discuss is whether we have a competence problem?
>
> An experienced, high-profile internet policy consultant *should know this*
> and *avoid doing it *because it promotes the entrenchment of high-risk
> habits that prime policy practitioners for targeted disinformation and
> malware.
>
> 2. The premise of Nissaba.net is that official policy documents are too
> complex or too long. So Nissaba.net hopes to attract the tl;dr audience
> (people who don't like reading or are cognitively lazy or presumably are
> "too busy" to read important things that affect them). Do you see the
> danger here? This model gives the site owner(s)* immense power* as an
> information gatekeepers and influencers - with a target audience of
> cognitively lazy (or negligent) individuals.
>
> This kind of high-profile nannying, if deemed necessary due to realities
> like nepotism/corruption (which guarantee incompetence) is something that
> can only be done credibly by transparent multilateral organizations that
> have independent checks and measures. Policy activists should be combating
> incompetence - not enabling it.
>
> 3. Besides the raised concerns above, there needs to be clarity on: What
> methodology are they using to summarize. How do they choose what is
> important and what is not? Do they have a vetting framework? How do they
> choose what reports/event to summarize and what not to cover? What tools
> do they use to create & scan the document? Do they have resources to
> protect themselves from being targeted as unwitting virus dissemination
> vectors?
>
> 4. Why is she not running this as a non-profit organization that can be
> subjected to non-profit rules and scrutiny? Her credentials and incredible
> levels of access (and exposure) don't paint her as a blundering amateur. Is
> this the result of reckless negligence or an excited rush to implement a
> half-baked idea? It doesn't make sense. What's going on?
>
> 5. If she got the idea from somewhere, she should have consulted the idea
> originator for implementation (execution) strategies that would not
> increase the danger of turning a bad situation into something far much
> worse. It could be that the idea originator (if not her) protected the idea
> by not reveling the most critical aspects of its execution.
>
> We cannot claim to be promoting internet health - and then we appear to do
> things that worsen internet health, just because we are known/trusted in
> policy circles!
>
> What am I missing here?
>
> Brgds,
> Patrick.
>
> Patrick A. M. Maina
> [Cross-domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous
> Innovations]
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, June 13, 2019, 3:48:43 PM GMT+3, Grace Bomu <
> nmutungu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Samantha is a well known writer on these issues. She's had a mission of
> making complex negotions digestible and many in the internet policy making
> space follow her reports. Please Google her, she's as old as WSIS etc.
>
> Cheers,
>
> On Thursday, 13 June 2019, Patrick A. M. Maina via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
> Interesting. Who owns / runs Nissaba.net? I could not find any
> information anywhere about the organization's founders, directors or team
> members (except, after a bit of online digging, for one individual named
> Samantha Dickinson, an "internet governance consultant/writer" based in
> Australia who is publishing the summaries).
>
> They are publishing high profile summaries on major policy issues - and
> they claim to have this "big idea", yet the it looks like the (sic) "small
> team" repeatedly mentioned on Nissaba.net has chosen to operate behind
> the scenes? That does not make sense.
>
> How do we know that their summary is a credible and trustworthy
> representation of the original (UN /ITU) documents?
>
> Considering the targeted high-profile audience, there is risk of people
> downloading a document that has an embedded virus. This could be a massive
> social engineering / spear phishing vector.
>
> I'm also curious how they got their "big idea" because it looks very
> familiar and the timing of Nissaba.net's appearance is very strange to me
> as it curiously coincides with certain ongoing initiatives.
>
> Anyone with insights / information / clarifications?
>
> Brgds,
> Patrick.
>
> Patrick A. M. Maina
> [Cross-domain Innovator | Independent Public Policy Analyst - Indigenous
> Innovations]
>
>
> On Thursday, June 13, 2019, 2:02:17 PM GMT+3, Barrack Otieno via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke > wrote:
>
>
> Listers,
>
> Might be of interest.
>
> Regards
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: *Richard Hill* <rhill at hill-a.ch>
> Date: Tue, Jun 11, 2019 at 5:45 PM
> Subject: [Internet Policy] A summary of the report of the UN High-Level
> Panel on Digital Cooperation
> To: Internetpolicy at Elists. Isoc. Org <internetpolicy at elists.isoc. org
> <internetpolicy at elists.isoc.org>>
>
>
> Here is a very short summary of the cited report:
>
>   http://nissaba.net/tldr/hlpdc- report/
> <http://nissaba.net/tldr/hlpdc-report/>
>
> Best,
> Richard
>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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