Web Creator: Web Was Built for Simplicity, Not Security
In his keynote address at the IPExpo Europe conference, World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee defended his decision to keep the web simple and not build in additional security features. According to a report in the Register, Berners-Lee said he wanted to make the World Wide Web easy for developers to use and program for; otherwise, “The Web might not have taken off if it had been too difficult.”
The World Wide Web began as an effort to merge hypertext technology with DNS-based Internet networking. Security depended on the underlying security of the network – much as it still does to this day. The whole notion of a protocol stack is that upper layers rely on services provided by the layers below, and when Berners-Lee built the first web server and client, he had no way of imagining the web would one day need anything more. The Reg (and other commentators) have noted that Berners-Lee’s comments are in contrast to Internet co-founder Vincent Cerf, who has stated that he wishes that security had received more attention during the development of the underlying TCP/IP protocol system.
Berners-Lee did say he supports always-on HTTPS cryptography for web connections, and he said he strongly supports the need for more privacy on the web, stating “The idea that privacy is dead is hopelessly sad.”
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