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Undercover CIA: Why Cybersecurity Might Be the Model Agent for Friendship

Apr 3
3 min read

Updated: Apr 9

Either I have been working too much, or cybersecurity is a lot like friendship. Hear me out. In both friendship and cyber, there are vectors of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability and each can be used as indicator of relational health.


Depth and vulnerability (which I will collectively cloak in the blanket of "confidentiality") are tough hurdles to jump for me (and maybe for you too) in advancing and maturing friendship. Nothing shared leads to nothing formed, bonded, and ultimately structured. In today's day and age of the loneliness epidemic, there is renewed and heightened focus on the third contributing factor: availability. And while availability is crucial in addressing loneliness, it is integrity that ensures these connections are genuine and enduring. Unfortunately, we are all too often busy and too glued to other "important" matters, but we are and always will be relational creatures; we're wired for healthy and sustained connection and attachment.


What if integrity is the overlooked tenet for sustaining genuine and lasting connections?


We All Need Our People, but Who Do We Need?

At every stage and in every season, we need people - especially when we are hurt, hungry, harried, or haggard. But, like aimless wandering in the absence of given direction, will any connection do? Will depth with others needing depth suffice? I'd argue not. I'd submit that is where the integrity lies anchored, almost-invisibly. Integrity begs the question, "how does your version of the world accord with reality?" I, you, we, want people to be willing to be with us, "to get us," to be at home, at rest and not be anxious, to be in likeminded presence, identify with us, to not have to perform, but to simply be (ideally, there would be reciprocity here). But, at the end of the day, friendship needs to calibrate to truth else it cannot stand and crumbles.


Men stepping into the light of integrity
The Light of Integrity in Fellowship; Even in Community, Each Steps into the Light (Generated with AI)

In recent everyday life, I have observed sources of truth in unexpected interactions. I recently had a friend pitch the following, "I am here (availability) for your problems. And I am here for the personal drama (confidentiality)." Even though there were no personal details directly described the moment, I relished. I had another buddy voluntarily show up (availability)- ready to transport me to the airport, debrief (confidentiality) from a multi-leg trip between workday meetings, and had breakfast ready to-go for me upon arrival. What grounded both of these acts in integrity was that both were done in knowledge and model of Christ, the ultimate reality. Both examples show the foundational framework of friendship in-motion. Like the cost of discipleship, the entry point for friendship is higher than we might surmise. But, how do we continuously gauge integrity?


Integrity: Anchoring Friendship in Truth

Here are some imperfect questions I have been mulling over you might consider in your closest friendships:

  • What do you observe about interactions?

    • Over time?

    • Where is there joy in them? Why?

    • Where is there friction? Why?


  • Where are interactions centered?

    • What is the ultimate source-of-truth?

    • Is there one?


  • Where is integrity sacrificed or overshadowed?

    • Confused with at the expense of confidentiality and availability?

    • How might an external perspective reveal gaps in confidentiality or availability?


At the end of the day, friendship is an intentional relationship built on depth and support across time. Have you experienced a moment when someone showed up for you CIA style? Join the #QuedUpConversation What would you add?


74 Comments


I can see why connecting values with everyday school life would invite discussion, since different people will bring different experiences to the same question. Kindness becomes easier to understand when it appears in ordinary classroom situations. It makes me curious about the practical side of values based education. I can imagine different answers depending on the situation, so I would want to understand the context before drawing conclusions. How can a school discuss values while leaving room for students' questions?

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anthonybaker369
3 days ago

The subject of creating a welcoming preschool environment feels more interesting when there is room for a reader to stop and ask their own questions. A predictable daily rhythm can make an unfamiliar classroom feel more comfortable. I would use that point as a starting question when considering welcoming preschool environment. I am still thinking through the details, and a small example would help me picture how this works in practice. Which small classroom details help a new child settle in?

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Thinking about applying business training to everyday work, I find the smaller practical questions more interesting than a quick conclusion. A useful training exercise should connect a new idea with a situation people actually encounter. That is the kind of detail I would keep in mind while exploring practical business training. I do not have a settled view yet, but this seems like a good place to slow down and look more closely. How would you check whether a workshop changes behaviour after it ends?

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What draws my attention to understanding biometric identity and privacy is the possibility of making an unfamiliar subject feel closer to everyday life. Convenience deserves to be considered alongside how identifying information is collected and stored. That is the kind of detail I would keep in mind while exploring biometric data privacy. I can imagine different answers depending on the situation, so I would want to understand the context before drawing conclusions. What questions should a beginner ask before trusting a biometric system?

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Dobrze zaprojektowana edukacja zdalna może być równie skuteczna jak tradycyjna nauka, pod warunkiem że materiały są odpowiednio uporządkowane i angażujące. Krótkie lekcje, ćwiczenia, testy oraz materiały dodatkowe pomagają utrzymać regularność nauki. Ważne jest również umożliwienie uczniom samodzielnego kontrolowania postępów. Strona poświęcona metodom nauki online mogłaby być pomocna zarówno dla uczniów, jak i nauczycieli przygotowujących własne kursy.

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