Was Early Internet Security Worse Than Now?

Martin Casado lived through the early internet on the ground, with formal studies in security, and the era was way worse than the breaches happening now. Worms had already cost billions of dollars in economic damage and had taken out critical infrastructure.

A Windows 95 machine connected to the internet during installation was infected before the installer finished, with no time to patch it. A new technology that changes how computers run always changes the security posture, and the industry is in another moment of the same kind. A few years of mayhem come first, breaches cause real issues, and then the industry evolves. The usual test is whether the good guys can spend more money than the bad guys. When the answer is yes, which is typically the case, a tactical solution shows up. He thinks the same will hold for AI, and treats the vulnerabilities showing up as a good sign because somebody used the model to make things safer by pointing out the vulnerabilities.

The net impact, in his view, is that software will be much more secure because AI is also securing it.