Public infections

‘Dead Drops’ is a project underway in New York City by Berlin-based Aram Bartholl. It involves embedding USB flashdrives into walls, with just the plug sticking out (see Flickr photostream here). The idea is that passing people lean against the wall cradling their netbooks and laptops, plug into the flashdrive and share files - picking up or dropping off. It’s art, apparently.

That’s just what we need in the fight against malware and cybercrime. Art.

Bartholl is encouraging the take-up of this idea in cities worldwide. And you can imagine cyber-criminals and malware authors being very enthusiastic about it. They’ve got all kinds of things they want to share with you.

Most of the comments I’ve seen about this project say that it’s a ‘nice idea’. Well, yes. So is leaving your front door unlocked so that anyone can use your house. It’s friendly. It’s communal. It’s stupid.

The majority of those comments also say that it’ll never work because the bad guys will exploit it. And that’s encouraging because it means, perhaps, that the message about protecting yourself whenever you use your computer is finally getting through.

Yes, it would be nice to think that this is a world in which we can share without risk - whether it’s sharing files or bodily fluids. But it ain’t so. Welcome to the real world.