VIEW 14
Homologies of the forelimb
The similarity in bone structure between many different animals was first observed back in 1555 by Pierre Belon. He interpreted this as evidence of the “great chain of being”—order in nature as dictated by the Almighty. These homologies were later used as evidence of Darwin’s theory of evolution, illustrating that all animals have evolved from a common ancestor.
This diagram shows the homologies of the forelimb in six different vertebrates or—in simple terms—that the underlying bones of some very different animals are exactly the same in format. Here we can see the limbs of six different creatures—a turtle’s flipper, a dolphin’s fin, a horse’s leg, a human arm, a chicken’s wing, and a bat’s wing. These are completely different animals, with the limbs being used for completely different purposes like swimming, flying, and walking. But as this diagram shows, underneath the surface the arrangement of the bones is identical.
A bat’s outspread wing is similar to our hands. A horse’s “wrist” comes halfway up its leg. When you see a horse running, he is really tinkling along on the tips of his fingers—like a pianist vamping on a keyboard. In all the cases shown, it’s the same bone structure, just with the relative lengths varied—so anatomically speaking they are indistinguishable. Taxonomy, the founding bedrock of biology, is the science of classifying things based on similarities in underlying pattern; the ability to classify things properly despite their surface appearance. This is also the basis of “underwriting through understanding”—things that can look very different on the outside are exactly the same inside (and the same is true vice versa).
A common starting point is to categorize companies by sector. Consider the following sector categorizations:
- Bakery (Retail)
- Taxi company (Transportation)
- Dentist (Healthcare)
- Web designer (Technology)
- Exam tutor (Education)
- Corner photocopy shop (Professional services)
On an industry classification they are all in different sectors, but from a cyber risk standpoint they are very similar. They all probably take payments by credit card. Being customer-facing (i.e. B2C not B2B), they are likely to have a large number of customer records relative to their size. They may rely on the web to attract new customers and, as small businesses, they probably have unsophisticated cyber defenses.
In underwriting these risks, the equivalent of x-ray eyeglasses are required to look beneath the surface and discover the true anatomy. Beyond simplistic industry classification, firmographic data that illuminates the nature of the business, along with a taxonomy of security postures and controls, is needed. That way, observable “homologies” will lead to better pricing of risk.
