Parasitic Order Machine. A Sociology and Ontology of Information Securing

This study examines information security as a process (information securing) in terms of what it does, especially beyond its obvious role of protector. It investigates concepts related to ‘ontology of becoming’, and examines what it is that information securing produces. The research is theory driven and draws upon three fields: sociology (especially actor-network theory), philosophy (especially Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s concept of ‘machine’, ‘territory’ and ‘becoming’, and Michel Serres’s concept of ‘parasite’), and information systems science (the subject of information security). Social engineering (used here in the sense of breaking into systems through non-technical means) and software cracker groups (groups which remove copy protection systems from software) are analysed as examples of breaches of information security. Firstly, the study finds that information securing is always interruptive: every entity (regardless of whether or not it is malicious) that becomes connected to information security is interrupted. Furthermore, every entity changes, becomes different, as it makes a connection with information security (ontology of becoming). Moreover, information security organizes entities into different territories. However, the territories – the insides and outsides of information systems – are ontologically similar; the only difference is in the order of the territories, not in the ontological status of entities that inhabit the territories. In other words, malicious software is ontologically similar to benign software; they both are users in terms of a system. The difference is based on the order of the system and users: who uses the system and what the system is used for. Secondly, the research shows that information security is always external (in the terms of this study it is a ‘parasite’) to the information system that it protects. Information securing creates and maintains order while simultaneously disrupting the existing order of the system that it protects. For example, in terms of software itself, the implementation of a copy protection system is an entirely external addition. In fact, this parasitic addition makes software different. Thus, information security disrupts that which it is supposed to defend from disruption. Finally, it is asserted that, in its interruption, information security is a connector that creates passages; it connects users to systems while also creating its own threats. For example, copy protection systems invite crackers and information security policies entice social engineers to use and exploit information security techniques in a novel manner.

Visuaalinen runo katse- ja lukukoneena

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tarkastella visuaalista runoutta nykyrunouden ilmiönä. Jokainen painettu tai kirjoitettu teos on määriteltävissä visuaaliseksi ja täten visuaalisella ilmaisulla on pitkät perinteensä. Nykyrunoudessa visuaalisuus on noussut kuitenkin keskeiseksi ilmaisutavaksi, mikä myös uudistaa perinteitä. Ilmaisutavan tarkastelu synnyttää katseen ja lukemisen prosesseja, joita havainnollistan tutkimuksessani nimittämällä visuaalista runoa katse- ja lukukoneeksi. Katse- ja lukukoneena runo toimii sekä katseltavista runoa rakentavista typografisista piirteistä että luettavista sisällön sanamerkityksistä. Lopulta näiden piirteiden yhdistyminen luo koko visuaalisen koneiston, jossa painettu sana on merkityksellinen sekä katseltuna että luettuna. Aineistokseni on valikoitunut Henriikka Tavin, Kaisa Ijäksen, Matti Kangaskosken, Olli-Pekka Tennilän ja Harry Salmenniemen runoja. Sovellan aineistoni käsittelyssä keskeisesti Gilles Deleuzen ja Félix Guattarin materialistista epistemologiaa. Viitekehykseni muotoutuu ajatukseen visuaalisesta runoudesta materiaalisena toimintana. Tätä toimintaa on mahdollista tarkastella typografisella, sisällöllisellä ja näiden muotosuhteiden tasolla. Muotosuhteiden tarkastelu on visuaalista lukutaitoa, mikä aktivoi myös katsoja-lukijaa. Kytkökset synnyttävät runoon vuorovaikutuksellista liikettä eli katse- ja lukukoneen toimintamekanismeja