Please don't take my sunshine away
I recently attended a technology conference and one of the sessions was focused on website security. This is something that people are becoming more and more aware of, sometimes painfully so. The presenter in this session was trying to drive home the point that website developers need to be thinking about how to secure their websites from day one. He related a how-not-to experience he had with a close friend. This friend was getting ready for the release of a new website and he called the presenter the night before to see if he had any thoughts on how to make the website as secure as possible. The presenter told him his best option was to not release the website. The friend told him that wasn't an option, so the presenter suggested he change the website code so that when someone tried to log in they would immediately get logged back out.
The presenters point was that the night before is the wrong time to start thinking about security, but it got me thinking that the real problem with website security is users, not code. The code by itself is harmless. It's the users who make everything go wrong. Developers and designers will often say-half joking, half lamenting-that the software would look and work fine if we didn't have to worry about people using it. And the real issue is that when you allow people to use software and interact with it, you give them a degree of control over the software. If you allow them to have too much control you put yourself at risk.
Now I realize that real life isn't like software. Software is programmed and predictable. Computers do what you tell them too. In real life each person has agency and can make their own choices. There are habits and behaviors that guide what we do, but it's not fixed code. We can change our behavior and learn new habits. But one principal that applies to both software and humans is what happens when we give control to someone else.
The Lord taught us in the Doctrine and Covenants that the "power is within [us] wherein [we] are agents unto [ourselves]". So why would we ever choose to give that power away? The power of choice is the one thing that is truly ours and cannot be taken from us. We know from Job's story that many, many things can be taken away, but never our power to make choices. But remember that just because something can't be taken doesn't mean we can't give it away.
In what ways do we give our power away? What causes us to give control of our software to another user? The prophet Mormon teaches us in the Book of Mormon that when we lose the guidance of the Lord's spirit we are "led about by Satan...as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her." (Mormon 5:18). A ship on the open water without sail or anchor certainly has no power to choose her course, and so it is with us. Without the Savior to anchor us and without his Spirit to guide us we can be left adrift in the world.
There are many subtle ways we give our power to others. Have you ever heard someone say that someone else "makes them angry"? Or maybe you've said it yourself. When you use that phrase you are admitting that you have given your power to choose your emotions and reactions to that person. Do you even know this person to whom you have given the most precious thing you have? Do they even know that you've given them this great responsibility? They now have power to control how you feel, so if they don't know, you'd better explain it to them. Or you'd better hope they use this power for good.
My advice would be, don't give anyone this power unless you trust them. You can probably give it to your spouse or significant other. It's probably okay to give it to family and very close friends. It's certainly appropriate to offer it to the Lord. He'll never use it, but he will accept it. But don't give it to strangers. Don't give it to the guy who cut you off on the freeway. Don't give it to coworkers, even if they have really annoying habits or if it seems they have made goals to ruin your life and they are working hard to achieve them. Don't give it away without careful consideration
Always remember that you and only you have the ultimate control and thus ultimate responsibility for how you feel and how you act. You are the author of your life's story. You may not get to choose all the characters or all of the events, but you always get to choose how you act.
You are responsible for your own happiness, so please don't give your sunshine away.
The presenters point was that the night before is the wrong time to start thinking about security, but it got me thinking that the real problem with website security is users, not code. The code by itself is harmless. It's the users who make everything go wrong. Developers and designers will often say-half joking, half lamenting-that the software would look and work fine if we didn't have to worry about people using it. And the real issue is that when you allow people to use software and interact with it, you give them a degree of control over the software. If you allow them to have too much control you put yourself at risk.
Now I realize that real life isn't like software. Software is programmed and predictable. Computers do what you tell them too. In real life each person has agency and can make their own choices. There are habits and behaviors that guide what we do, but it's not fixed code. We can change our behavior and learn new habits. But one principal that applies to both software and humans is what happens when we give control to someone else.
The Lord taught us in the Doctrine and Covenants that the "power is within [us] wherein [we] are agents unto [ourselves]". So why would we ever choose to give that power away? The power of choice is the one thing that is truly ours and cannot be taken from us. We know from Job's story that many, many things can be taken away, but never our power to make choices. But remember that just because something can't be taken doesn't mean we can't give it away.
In what ways do we give our power away? What causes us to give control of our software to another user? The prophet Mormon teaches us in the Book of Mormon that when we lose the guidance of the Lord's spirit we are "led about by Satan...as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her." (Mormon 5:18). A ship on the open water without sail or anchor certainly has no power to choose her course, and so it is with us. Without the Savior to anchor us and without his Spirit to guide us we can be left adrift in the world.
There are many subtle ways we give our power to others. Have you ever heard someone say that someone else "makes them angry"? Or maybe you've said it yourself. When you use that phrase you are admitting that you have given your power to choose your emotions and reactions to that person. Do you even know this person to whom you have given the most precious thing you have? Do they even know that you've given them this great responsibility? They now have power to control how you feel, so if they don't know, you'd better explain it to them. Or you'd better hope they use this power for good.
My advice would be, don't give anyone this power unless you trust them. You can probably give it to your spouse or significant other. It's probably okay to give it to family and very close friends. It's certainly appropriate to offer it to the Lord. He'll never use it, but he will accept it. But don't give it to strangers. Don't give it to the guy who cut you off on the freeway. Don't give it to coworkers, even if they have really annoying habits or if it seems they have made goals to ruin your life and they are working hard to achieve them. Don't give it away without careful consideration
Always remember that you and only you have the ultimate control and thus ultimate responsibility for how you feel and how you act. You are the author of your life's story. You may not get to choose all the characters or all of the events, but you always get to choose how you act.
You are responsible for your own happiness, so please don't give your sunshine away.
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