TL/DR
Ensure the accuracy of the input to provide a more accurate or desirable output or outcome.
The Paradigm
GIGO a.k.a “Garbage-in Garbage-Out” is a term first known to be used in the English vernacular by Army Specialist William D. Mellin. Mellin was using this term to help describe the paradigm of the inability for Computers not being able to ‘think’ for themselves and that “poorly programmed” inputs inevitably lead to incorrect or bad outputs or outcomes.
The Analogies
A human-centric analogy for this might be found in the game of ‘Telephone Whispers’, where the basic concept of the game sees a group of people take an initial statement or story with each participant in the game ‘passing-on’ this statement to the next person in the chain by whispering the statement or story to the next participant until the final player has ultimately received the information. At this point in the game the last person in the chain then voices what they have been told. Quite often the inevitable conclusion results in a misstated or erroneous verbal output based on slight changes in the information that was previously provided at the previous input stage.
To relate this concept to the world of Hardware Hacking, an example of a ‘floating ground’ may be used. A ‘floating ground’ was developed to allow for a common ground reference point that all components can reference that is isolated from earth ground. In some cases where a connection is not properly referenced to common signal ground, like in the case of serial RS-232, this may result in a misreading between the transmitting and receiving device or tool.
This same paradigm exists in main stream Cyber Security Consultation, where if a clients requirements have not been accurately gathered, this may lend itself to a less than optimum expectation or result for the customer. An example from the Penetration Testing world might be in-scope vs out-of-scope items, which if not classified correctly can result in an unsanctioned engagement, which may place the consultancy in a liable position. Another example of this might be found within the technique of “fuzzing”, which requires the Penetration Tester to provide ‘bad’ or unsuspecting input which can lead to unexpected outputs, which in turn can be used by threat actors to invoke a vulnerability.
This paradigm can also rear its ugly head within human discourse through subjective bias, through misinformation or lack of understanding, which can often times lend itself to a misalignment or break down in inter-personal communications, especially in our ever evolving digitally connected world. This is also true of those of us that strive towards the pursuit of life-long learning, in that to disregard common truths and introducing individual bias may hinder the ability to learn or grow in a positive direction.
The Takeaway
As has been described above, the clarity of the input has a direct correlation to the fidelity of the output. The GIGO paradigm affects all aspects that encompass information processing which saddles both the analogue and digital realms of existence.
