{"id":41622,"date":"2021-09-03T16:21:30","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T20:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?p=41622"},"modified":"2021-09-17T07:23:51","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T11:23:51","slug":"dune-information-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/dune-information-security\/41622\/","title":{"rendered":"Information security in Dune"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, the Dune<\/em> universe seems IT-deficient. Humanity may be building spaceships, but it relies on the human mind to calculate flight paths. Humans send troops to alien planets but exchange messages through couriers. They colonize other worlds yet live in a feudal society.<\/p>\n

What information security is there to talk about? Quite a bit, in fact. It plays a vital role in Frank Herbert\u2019s universe.<\/p>\n

Why the state of technology is so poor in the first book<\/h2>\n

Almost all of the tech oddities in the Dune universe boil down to its blanket prohibition: At some point in its history, humanity encountered a global cyberthreat and took radical action, abandoning the information technologies so familiar to us and banning artificial intelligence and computers.<\/p>\n

The first installment in the Dune<\/em> series briefly touches on the reasons behind the prohibition, and the sequels contain conflicting versions of the story, but the key point is that humans rebelled against and destroyed the machines. With prohibition, possession of a \u201cthinking machine\u201d became a capital offense. The main scripture (the Orange Catholic Bible) states categorically: Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.<\/p>\n

Needing to replace the usual information technologies, humans developed their minds in amazing ways. All sorts of teachings, schools, sects, and orders sprang up, as did humans\u2019 ability to perform complex mental calculations, guide spaceships through folded space, analyze the world, and even influence the minds of others.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, to manage a civilization scattered throughout different star systems, the leaders of humanity reintroduced monarchical rule, feudalism, and the caste system. Despite the disappearance of computers, however, information \u2014 and information security \u2014 has maintained its central role in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Mentat as security officer<\/h2>\n

A Mentat is a human trained to function as a computer, capable of processing huge amounts of information in the mind. For example, in addition to developing military strategy, Dune<\/em>\u2018s Thufir Hawat of House Atreides is responsible for:<\/p>\n