Cross-eyed Mary

Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life's ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved

--W. Somerset Maugham

You know you've been around a while when you use the phrase "turn-of-the-century" and someone asks you which one. Nonetheless, I agree for the most part with this idea by the turn-of-the-(previous)-century doctor-turned-author above.

It's the inevitable flaws found in everything that help us deal with who we are as imperfect humans. Imperfection is what makes men men and pearls pearls. It's the slight flaw that makes the beautiful woman even more beautiful. I don't mean Picasso-like facial distortion, like "Beverly Hills 90210" star Shannen Doherty's (ever notice that?); I mean the slightly hooked nose or turned-in foot, the tiny forehead scar or well-placed birthmark. I could go on, but I would come close to getting perfectly off track.

Maugham may have made an insightful statement, but not a perfect one. For he had never heard or even conceived of the Internet. There, flaws are as not beautiful things. The most recent flaw, discovered by Milwaukee security researcher Paul Watson, is downright ugly. The way the flaw was carefully reported may help it quickly become a non-issue, but the discovery of its very existence within the core communications protocol (TCP) of the Internet is disturbing.

This latest security vulnerability was announced by England's National Infrastructure Coordination Security Centre (NICSS). The U.S. Homeland Security Department also issued a cyber alert.

The revelation of this flaw comes at a time when the telecommunications industry has finally decided to begin migrating its highly reliable, highly secure network infrastructure to the same packet architecture used in the very flawed Internet.

There will always be vulnerabilities in networks, but overlooked flaws such as the TCP flaw, which have the potential to bring down the whole shebang, just might cause service providers to rethink their reluctant embrace of this cross-eyed Mary called IP. A change in their commitment level could bring a quick halt to the turnaround this industry is counting on.

Had Maugham lived to see his books sold on eBay, he might have written this instead: Perfection may be a trifle dull. But it is not the least of life's ironies that a man named Watson warned that while perfection is often better not quite achieved, it doesn't apply to the invention of Alexander Graham Bell now that the entire world economy and means of communication depend on it.

E-mail me at tmcelligott@primediabusiness.com