Analysis for Estonia´s National Cyber Security Index

If I were to guess, I would say that Estonia is doing pretty well security-wise. The biggest problem I have heard discussed in the general media, is the security of e-voting. However, it mostly seemed to be one party accusing everyone else of cheating and in the end did not bring any real conclusions, only mostly funny and ridiculous lists of why e-voting is bad (Source 1).

Looking at the NCSI (National Cyber Security Index) it seems that Estonia is doing quite well for itself. We are currently on the 5th place. What baffles me a bit is how Greece is in the first place - I have never heard of them dominating that field. When looking at Digital Development Level, Estonia ranks 20th. Not too bad, but definitely not great for a nation that is trying to uphold the image of being one of the most digitally advanced countries worldwide. (Source 2)

When looking at the data more closely, it seems that Estonia mostly scores maximum points, or looses a lot in certain spots.

Screenshot of NCSI comparison webpage: Incident and Crisis Management Indicators

As can be seen in the picture above, Estonia lost 3 points due to the lack of a cybercrime unit. 

Screenshot of NCSI comparison webpage: Education and Professional Development

Here the NCSI has pointed out the lack of a PhD programme for cyber security. In general, it seems that NCSI has done a great job analyzing Estonia´s cyber capabilities (they are also originated in Estonia:)).

To conclude, it seems that my assumptions were true - Estonia is well-developed in regards to cyber security. Of course, those who desire a PhD in Cyber Security must obtain their education from elsewhere or settle with some other PhD programme. 

Source 1 (Mentioning the list of problems with e-voting): https://web.archive.org/web/20200810060230/https://www.mkm.ee/et/uudised/tooruhm-tegi-ettepanekud-e-haaletamise-susteemi-taiendamiseks-ning-edasiseks-arendamiseks

Source 2 : https://ncsi.ega.ee/ncsi-index/?order=-ncsi

Human-Computer Interaction: a Blessing and a Curse

 Most likely every computer user has been in a situation where they do not know what the computer is trying to "tell" them or do not know how to respond. Sometimes, Google can be a great help for finding the meaning of different error codes or for solving other issues. Our everyday HCI problems are usually minor, the only consequence being loss of a few minutes for the mortal computer user.

There was a radiation therapy device which was used on cancer patients called Therac-25. It had many flaws, including the fact that there was no way to tell whether the sensors were working correctly, or what the error messages meant. There were no instructions on what the error messages meant in the manual either. Due to unspecified software errors, some patients were given huge doses of radiation. There were also cases where the patient received an inappropriately large amount of radiation, however, the machine indicated that no radiation had been given and thus the operator repeated the process, giving another massive dose of radiation to the patient. In total, at least 3 patients died as a direct result. However, this story should not be to further frighten those who are afraid of doctors - it took place in the 1980s. It is merely a cautionary tale of what happens when things are not properly thought trough and not tested enough.

It was much harder to find a success story, where HCI was developed in such a way that it helped to prevent major harm. I suppose that simply proves my point that HCI mostly goes unnoticed (it is almost natural and feels like an extension of the person), only when something does not work it is very much noted and recorded.

Thus, I decided to give an example from my own life. Obviously, I have never been in charge of operating a life-altering machine such as the Therac-25. 

When playing a game, one of the biggest factors in me liking the game are the sounds. Are they annoying or satisfying? How much can they be changed? And thus, I just have to proclaim my love for Minecraft. The sound of placing blocks, how each different block makes a different noise. How easy it is to create something in general, the whole game requires minimal amount of previous gaming experience. Nowadays, Minecraft even has built-in tutorials. And the satisfying experience has "saved" my life in the way that it really helped me relax and do something that felt meaningful to me at the time. I used to really enjoy creating fields of wheat: hoeing the field, placing water and seeds. All those sounds are very satisfying to me to this day. Although, my favorite sound is probably the sound of picking up items.

A Minecraft Farm in Making (featuring a hedgehog)

 

Sources

Therac-25: https://archive.org/details/giftoffiresocial0000baas_r4k3/page/424/mode/2up

What job hunting might have looked like for an IT professional: 2001 vs 2022

When talking about hiring a new IT professional in a typical Estonian workplace, I would imagine that the list of things expected from the soon-to-be employee would look something like this:

• Previous IT work experience
• IT-related education; preferably an university degree
• language skills; especially English (but also Estonian)
• Some skills that are usually job-specific (knowing how to use certain programs, programming languages, Linux/Windows etc); Most of these skills seem to be things that are taught in university.

Some job offers in the IT section of CVkeskus (The most popular website in Estonia for job offers). Translations added. https://www.cvkeskus.ee/toopakkumised-infotehnoloogia-valdkonnas?sort=activation_date&dir=1

Although I do not have any experience working or looking for a job in IT, I have heard the following about the attitudes of regular Estonian IT-workers:

• It is rather normal to always try and haggle for a better pay or a better position.
• If the employer is not open to giving the employee a raise, it is normal to change jobs.
• Some workers recommend changing jobs every 2-3 years or so just to get a better pay.
• Oftentimes the work hours are not "set in stone", meaning, for example, that an IT support guy might have to help people during the weekend. Obviously, not everyone complies.

After looking around on CVkeskus, it seems that my assumptions were mostly correct. At the moment there are around 150 or so job offers that have been categorized under IT. Now, let us go back to the year 2001 using WayBackMachine.

CVKeskus´s job offers in the IT section in 2001. Translations for job titles added. https://web.archive.org/web/20020511044101/http://www.cvkeskus.ee/joboffers.php?submit=1&search_category1=Infotehnoloogia

Aside from the fact that the CVKeskus´s website looks like most of my Web Tech labs, the overall job selection is not too bad. However, there are only 14 IT job offers on the site (all of them located in Tallinn). At least there is a pretty good selection of different types of jobs, however, I have no idea what all these "Specialists" and "Lead Specialists" are about. Sadly, WayBackMachine can not tell me either since the job offers themselves have not been recorded.  

However, looking at simple work titles, it seems that the types of different jobs are quite similar. One difference that I found was that in 2001, quite a large chunk of the employers were government-owned companies. Also, most of the employers are thus not just tech companies, they are large companies that have an IT department.

I also decided to take a look at the private companies that are listed in the 2001 job offers.

• It seems that Navi Tarkvara OÜ does not exist anymore (according to this and this).
• Hireright Estonia AS seems to be alive and well (link).
• Eesti Telefon IT Teenused AS - I could not find any info about them - so most likely they do not exist anymore.
• Süsteemiarenduse Partnerid OÜ - they have changed their name, but they seem to still be working (link).
• Starman Internet AS - They do not exist anymore (link).

Looks like a lot of these companies were not very reliable as employers as many went out of business only a few years after these job listings were posted.

To conclude, I would say that the job opportunities in IT sector have greatly increased. There is a huge variety of jobs available compared to 2001. I would guess that the main requirements are mostly the same judging by the short job descriptions. With the amount of private company job offers increasing, it likely means that the wages are more competitive too nowadays. Thus, a perfect soil for a hard worker who does not mind switching companies once in a while.

Virginia Shea´s Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life

This rule, adhering to the same standards as one would follow in real life feels very natural. I too think that trolls and people pretending to be "edgy" are a bit much and not the politest bunch. I also believe that anonymous posters should think before they post something potentially hurtful - hurtful comments are not any less painful for the receiver online than in real life. 

However, people have very different standards. When I see pictures of nappies and other baby products locked inside of glass in the US, I feel incredibly sorry for the parents who were forced to steal food just to feed their small child. In such a case, I would even say that if I saw someone stealing baby formula, I would not do anything about it - luckily I haven´t noticed such tendencies in Estonia. But obviously, there was a person behind this particular decision to lock up baby formula, someone with very different standards or motivations than mine (..profit?).

A picture of a supermarket shelf in the US where the baby food is stored behind a lock. 
https://i.redd.it/sp5i8bqeiw961.jpg
https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/ksc0hh/the_locked_baby_formula_cabinet_at_the_supermarket/

However, if I condemn stealing most items (and also stealing should be avoided whenever possible, I would like to point out that I see this as a last resort), would that mean that Internet "stealing" (piracy) should be condemned as well? When comparing things we say on the Internet, it is understandable that people still have feelings. However, is "stealing" entertainment from companies that the person does not wish to support still wrong? What about books or other forms of information that would be unavailable otherwise?

Obviously, anyone can survive without entertainment. It is not comparable to baby formula. However, knowledge and education is more important (still not very comparable, though). 

As Virginia Shea points out, her set of rules is not ethics, but rather manners. And in that sense I can agree - stealing baby forumla is not good manners and neither is pirating a school book. And in a last-resort situation (starve or steal baby formula; eat or starve and buy a wildly expensive school book) manners do not matter.

Sources:

Virginia Shea 10 internet commandments: http://www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

Analysis of different forms of copyleft

When creating a type of software that is intended to be shared, it is important to think about copyright (and copyleft). It is understandable that creator(s) would not want someone modifying their work and sticking their own name on it.

If the creator is concerned with some other company modifying the project and using it for their own monetary benefit, it is probably most useful to use a strong copyleft. Maybe something like AGPL. Obviously, this decision has to be made rather early and if the creator(s) should want to make their work proprietary later, it would most likely not be possible. As EUPL is a variable license, it could be used as well.

If the creator was making something like a Python module, they might want to use a weak copyleft, because many software creators obviously want their work to be proprietary and thus they would avoid using the module if it had a strong copyleft on it. Maybe something like EUPL would do well.

In the previous example, the creator could also go the way of deciding to use a non-copyleft license in order to give more freedom to the software developers using the module.

The Case For Copyright Reform - Chapter 2

 I think copyright issues have been a problem for a while. I doubt there is a person who has never pirated anything or maybe at least tried to.  There are quite a few rather funny (and sad..) clips out there demonstrating how "bad" pirating is. For example this one (link). Too bad, I suppose I am a kleptomaniac at this point.

I think that one of the most important issues that the Pirate Party discusses is privacy. Although I have not heard of anyone getting punished for pirating. However, here is a rather grim article about the Estonian Organization for Copyright Protection. It seems to try and somehow scare people away from pirating, comparing it to capturing the movie in a movie theatre using a smart phone. The article also encourages anyone that has any knowledge about a "pirate criminal" to report it immediately. And it also mentions that Estonians on a larger scale do not understand that pirating is somehow "wrong". This article was published in May of 2021, in the midst of a global pandemic when people were probably more desperate than ever to have some entertainment.

I agree with the Pirate Party that copyright violations by private people (non-corporations) can not be tracked without violating their privacy. And I will not even mention the "I have nothing to hide!" crowd. Privacy is not about hiding, it is more about not being watched 1984-style.

I would very much like to see that in the future, everyone is able to share media with their loved ones without being "a pirate". Or whatever corporations try to equate pirating to. You wouldn´t download a car now, would you?

Review of "Challenges of The Global Information Society"

 At the beginning, Himanen brings out 10 global trends that he has noticed. I must say, pretty much all of these are still important topics today. I think the problem of population ageing is also very prevalent in Estonia. I also agree with all the reform values of the European model - however, I think that trying to keep up with all these values may be a rather difficult chore. In this part Himanen compares some of the values of those of Christian religion. I would say that yes, Europe and especially the EU is built on those standards, however, I think religion and basing standards and morals on it has become less prevalent.

I´ve heard a lot of people in Estonia saying that they are unsure whether they can ever stop working and retire - because the population of Estonia is ageing very quickly. To add, some professions have the problem of no young people wanting to join (teachers, for example). I think Himanen´s worries on the topic are thus very much still prevalent today.

He also talks about how education is the key to equalizing the society and how for example in Silicon Valley, the education gap between families of different financial backgrounds has become prevalent. I could not agree more, to be honest. I feel that education obviously is a huge privilege, but at the same time giving the privilege to someone should not be based on finance. 

I think that Finland has very much succeeded with their education system. They are always very high on the PISA test, usually following Estonia. To be fair, I find it hard to understand why Estonia keeps topping the charts of the PISA test... Sometimes it feels like our country is not putting enough effort and resources into education. I guess it proves that not everything is about money, however, it does help a whole lot...

Himanen does not only want to ensure that education (in the traditional sense) is available to everyone, he also wants to further promote self-learning by giving free access to as much information as possible.

He also analyzes work-life balance issues and how to have people be able to work until retiring age. I have not found this to be too much of an issue. Finland has more issues with problems like obesity and such, however, I think that may be due to Estonia´s Soviet period having lessened the amount of consumption. Thus, Estonia will probably be in a similar situation in a few years´ time. I found the sex bit hilarious, however, I think that if a country ever tried to advertise having more sex directly, I would personally take it more as a call to reproduction...

I think in general all of these issues very much still apply to Finland, Estonia and even the wider world. However, as there are so many issues, there is also no easy solution. Himanen does say what a government should do to avoid these problems, however, he does not specify how it should be done. This probably is not the goal of this writing either way, but I think that most of these problems are even more complex than they may seem at first glance.