Adam Shostack  Apr 12, 2025

Judgement is an important facet of professionalism. There are areas where we need people to make judgement calls despite incomplete information, inconclusive or contradictory indicators, and other complications that lead us away from algorithms to human judgement.

In the traditional professions, including law, accounting, medicine and even engineering, we teach people to make those judgement calls as part of their education. That involves ensuring they have the available facts, that they can discuss how they came to a decision, and that they'll stand by it until those facts change.

Show threadAdam Shostack  Apr 12, 2025

My starting this thread with a summary of what professionalism entails is intended to illustrate this sort of thinking. In fact, there's a nuanced conversation about if computing meets the requirements of a profession. (For example, https://cacm.acm.org/opinion/software-professionals-malpractice-law-and-codes-of-ethics/ )

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Software Professionals, Malpractice Law, and Codes of Ethics

Communications of the ACM
Show threadAdam Shostack  Apr 12, 2025

Professionalism emerges in a public conception because, in times of stress, individuals display the characteristics of professionalism. By acting that way, they make a case that they qualify. That qualification isn't the a system of formal training, although that helps. Quoting the judge from that previous piece, there's an need to earn professional status as people "conduct themselves as members of a learned, disciplined, and honorable occupation."

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Show threadAdam Shostack  Apr 12, 2025

In the case of the 2020 elections, Chris Krebs had a relatively simple judgement call to make, and he did so. "“I’m here to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher.”"

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-virus-outbreak-donald-trump-politics-elections-b28083c7d0c65aa80d23e23c50c75687

His judgement was borne out by, most importantly, the lack of contradictory facts, and the intense effort to discover those facts. Had those facts been available, Jena Ellis would still be a lawyer, and Rudy Giuliani wouldn't be bankrupt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92HlaEvLmgM&pp=ygUGI2FwYWVq
https://www.reuters.com/legal/judge-ends-giuliani-bankruptcy-heightening-legal-risks-2024-07-12/

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Countering Trump, US officials defend integrity of election

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four weeks ahead of Election Day, senior national security officials provided fresh assurances about the integrity of the elections in a video message Tuesday, putting them at odds with President Donald Trump’s efforts to discredit the vote.

AP News
Dan KinneyApr 13, 2025
Show threadAdam Shostack  

And so it's important, when Chris Krebs is being attacked from what's been called "the bully pulpit," that we advocate for Mr. Krebs, but not because we like him or think he's a fine fellow, or even because he's under attack. (Although those are reasonable reasons to come to his defense.)

We advocate for Mr. Krebs because he did his job professionally, took in the available facts, and made a judgement call. Any penalty for that call should be carefully adjudicated.

There's no evidence that he made that call in violation of professional norms. There's no evidence he was wrong. There are plenty of people (such as the aforementioned Ellis and Giuliani) who have cause to dig for such evidence. But none exists.

If this logical chain holds, then this isn't a political question. It's a question of: do you want to be able to call yourself a professional?

I do, and I stand with Mr. Krebs.

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Apr 12, 2025 at 3:47pmWeb
Show thread4dw@r3  🦬Apr 13, 2025

@adamshostack beautifully stated, I was talking to my coworkers in Berlin about this and the actions taken actually reinforced their opinion that I made the right call recommending SentinelOne.

I do hope that it holds true with Europeans whereas these brands are attacked by our fascist government the brands become bolstered overseas by actual advocates of freedom.

Show threadChris Farris Apr 13, 2025
@adamshostack Also, collective punishment is the tool of repressive regimes that lack the support of the people. See: Stalin, Hitler's occupation of Europe, and North Korea's three generations policies.