Influential Security Professionals
I have been named as one of the 25 most influential people in the security industry.
Comments
HJohn • December 12, 2008 12:44 PM
Coming from someone who commonly disagrees with Bruce, his insight and critical analysis are valuable and this is a much deserved recognition.
Happy Holidays.
Thom • December 12, 2008 1:11 PM
I can see why Bruce is on the list. I can’t see why most of the others are.
Bob B. • December 12, 2008 1:23 PM
Duh! You should be number ONE on the list! Anyone who has read your books/blogs/attended your speaches would know and agree with that.
Anyone know how “Senior Manager Assets Protection, The Cheesecake Factory Inc.” made it??? Seriously.
Teo Neto - Brazil • December 12, 2008 1:27 PM
Mr. Schneier, congratulations for your nomination.
Actually I’d like to point out something: 19 of the 20 professionals elected the most influential professionals are americans. 100% belong to North America. What about the great work made by many others all around the world? I don’t want to talk about a specific name, but I am sure there are many, many others that deserve to be part of this list.
Ben Rosengart • December 12, 2008 1:28 PM
Who is benefiting from whose brand here?
Aaron Lemur Mintz • December 12, 2008 1:40 PM
Congratulations!
I admit I was hoping that Jennifer Stoddart, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, would make the list. Maybe next year.
Danny O'Sullivan • December 12, 2008 2:00 PM
Applied cryptography certainly is certainly changing the way I think about security and is a big influence on me these days; as far as I’m concerned your blurb was right on the money. Congratulations!
Bob Marley • December 12, 2008 2:01 PM
#2 on that list – Norman Bates sure has come a long way since his days managing the Bates Motel. He’s looking well, too.
Muffin • December 12, 2008 2:07 PM
@Thom: keep in mind that this is “the 25 most influential”, not “the 25 most important”. Unless you work in the field yourself, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss that these people ARE influential.
Mark from FL • December 12, 2008 2:21 PM
Congratulations on the recognition, Bruce. But am I the only one who thinks your photo looks like Frank Zappa’s younger brother?
Ack • December 12, 2008 2:31 PM
Never heard of any of the other people on the list. Therefore, these influential people have no influence on me.
Larry • December 12, 2008 2:34 PM
I simply cannot believe some of the names I’m seeing on here. What is this, an advertiser list? Or self selection?
#1: Oracle physical security. What an oxymoron. Further deponent sayeth not.
#7: Murdered on 5 April 1986.
#18: Your spices are safe.
#24: Truliant Federal Credit Union. How did this tiny credit union contribute more than the major players at the various commercial banks and much larger credit unions nationwide?
Adding insult to injury is Fannie Mae #25. “Enterprise risk management” indeed!
I see some important names here; certainly Bruce is one of them. But I see names on here who blatantly fail the laugh test.
BillK • December 12, 2008 2:37 PM
No chance now of you getting through TSA checks without being introduced to the rubber gloves! 🙂
mcb • December 12, 2008 3:01 PM
As a physical security nerd I recognize five other than Bruce (not including Jeanne Clery). None are as interesting, eloquent, or as inclined to upend the boat as Bruce.
nick • December 12, 2008 3:31 PM
I think Bruce is on the list in an attempt to lend credibility to what would otherwise be just a list if corporate management schmucks.
SumDumGuy • December 12, 2008 3:45 PM
Googling around, it seems like the guy at the credit union implemented a home-brew inter-branch DVR system specifically tailored to financial security requirements because no such system was available in the market. Last year he forked his own company to build and sell similar systems to other companies in the financial sector.
Hard to say if they are selling well, but if he has decent sales, I’d say that would be big step up from the guard in the lobby and simple time-lapse cameras on a 24-hour tape loop. Don’t be so quick to diss the little guy, big corps may have enormous resources but they also have enormous waste and innovation-killing stagnation.
ArchAngel • December 12, 2008 3:47 PM
From the Article:
#19: Bruce Schneier, Influential Security Technologist
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, referred to by The Economist as a “security guru.” He is the author of eight books – including the best sellers Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World; Secrets and Lies; and Applied Cryptography – as well as hundreds of articles and essays in national and international publications, and many more academic papers. His influential newsletter Crypto-Gram, and his blog Schneier on Security, are read by over 250,000 people. “I consider myself a synthesist and a communicator. My biggest accomplishments involve understanding complex ideas and explaining them simply, as well as finding connections and patterns and commonalities among diverse ideas. I write, I speak, I write more. The single thing that fans say to me that makes me the most proud of my work is: ‘You’ve changed the way I think.’ That’s what I want to do: change the way people think about security.
“Throughout this all, I have attempted to explain security simply, through words and metaphors and concepts. James Madison once famously said: ‘If men were angels, no government would be necessary.’ Similarly, if all men were honest, no security would be necessary. Most people are honest – otherwise society would collapse – but there will always be dishonest minority. Security is a tax on the honest majority, and I feel my job is to explain how that tax works, and how effective different ways to spend it are.”
A nonny bunny • December 12, 2008 3:55 PM
@Larry
“Adding insult to injury is Fannie Mae #25. “Enterprise risk management” indeed! ”
Well, the list doesn’t claim it’s about positive influence.
Osmin Magana • December 12, 2008 4:22 PM
Congrats! Not for the nomination, but the real position you have in the Security Industry. The nomintation just reflect the facts.
Regards
Ankylosaurus • December 12, 2008 4:26 PM
Well, I fear that like most, I recognized few names on the list apart from Bruce’s. Some of the positions are likely influential (Oracle security chief), but the rest — yes, a little surprising. Certainly a different part of the industry from the bits I work with.
alex • December 12, 2008 4:36 PM
I have no freakin’ clue who most of these poeple are, and I’m in the security industry.
Count 0 • December 12, 2008 4:49 PM
I’m in the security industry too and I don’t know who most of those people are either. Of course Security Magazine has the hard-hitting journalistic reputation of your average in-flight magazine…
Wally • December 12, 2008 5:08 PM
@alex,
Surely you know William Webster, former director of both the FBI and the CIA (not at the same time, of course)? I’ll grant you that I haven’t heard of most of these folks, but that was one other name I did recognize.
Longtime fan • December 12, 2008 6:09 PM
I don’t care what lists you are on good or bad please keep doing exactly what you have been doing.
Chris • December 12, 2008 6:22 PM
I’m a Washingtonian, and I notice Rob McKenna is on there (#16). Surprised me… I remember voting for him, but I didn’t know that he was as influential in security as the likes of Bruce Schneier!
frog51 • December 12, 2008 6:31 PM
“….most influential people in the security industry”
…in the US…
Some of the list are influential outside the US, and Bruce certainly is, but realistically – there is a whole lot of the world that isn’t the US, so from my 14+ years in this industry I can think of a whole lot of people way more influential.
Robert • December 12, 2008 6:55 PM
FTA: #11: Park Dietz, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.
The next time I’m called for jury duty, I’ll be sure to remember this name. From CNN.com:
A consultant for the television drama “Law and Order,” Dietz also testified that, in the weeks before Yates killed her children, an episode had aired in which a mother drowned her children in a bathtub and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
In its closing argument, the prosecution seized upon the testimony and suggested that Yates, who was known to watch “Law and Order,” caught the episode and replicated the events as a “way out.”
After Yates was convicted, her lawyers discovered that no such episode existed, and appealed to the state’s highest court.
Justices on the Texas State Court of Appeals sided with the argument that Dietz’s testimony constituted a grave bias that wrongly influenced the jury’s verdict, and ordered a new trial.
“Andrea Yates gets a second chance – Jun 23, 2006”
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/23/yates.trial/index.html
Chris Finch • December 12, 2008 11:06 PM
Well done Bruce. Have a good Christmas.
And with regards to Park Dietz, you should watch his interview with Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski on Youtube.
Caleb D • December 12, 2008 11:42 PM
@Nick
While what you say is generally true, Bruce is one the worlds foremost cryptologists, along with being the most well known.
Antonio • December 13, 2008 12:08 AM
Bruce – congrats! But where’s Ross Anderson??
Clive Robinson • December 13, 2008 5:29 AM
Perhaps the most influencial name of all world wide is not on this list.
He was both a security and political visonary.
His best work was done some 60 years before his vison became a world wide reality.
He is so influential his words are on the lips of billions almost every day and his influence has inspired films, and modern entertainment.
I offer up for nomination George Orwell.
R... • December 13, 2008 9:51 AM
Congrats, like others here I don’t know any others, except for Winn and Bratton.
I think a lot of these magazines try to home-grow security celebrities (Cheesecake Factory guy for example) in an effort to trump up the events they throw. Expect some of these no-namers to be on magazine-sponsored speaking engagements with their bios claiming “Honored among innovative leaders such as Bruce Schneier and Bill Bratton as a top security visionary…”
It’s almost like the “security glitterati” is a separate career path outside of security. Meanwhile the ones who actually contribute to the field, like Ross Anderson, Bill Cheswick, and Matt Bishop go unnoticed.
Livni • December 13, 2008 11:35 AM
Ribono shel olam, who are these rich old white guys? I’ve been working in security for 12 years and the only one I know is Bruce.
Where’s Diffie? Where’s Shamir?
csrster • December 15, 2008 2:30 AM
Ridiculous!
Bruce Schneier is surely all 25 of the 25 most influential security professionals.
valery • December 15, 2008 6:27 AM
Except for Bruce, none of them really deserve to be on top-25 list (IMHO)
Phillip • December 15, 2008 6:57 AM
RE #16
Washington must be a very peculiar state. In Michigan, only the legislature and Governor can pass laws.
Jay • December 15, 2008 7:37 AM
… Yes another one of the vast, vast majority of those in (information) security i.e. outside of that outback corner of the world called USofA: Only a handful are even known outside their country, let alone be influential. 99,99% of the ideas around the world re infosec are NOT from the listed. Shameless plug of cronies ..? (Hi Bruce, you’re in there as well ..?)
Clive Robinson • December 16, 2008 4:27 AM
An idea,
Bruce instead of a “Movie Plot” competition, how about running a “hall of fame” where people can nominate a person (and say why).
Then you get an OpEd or two out of it being the “community saying for the community”.
Rich • December 16, 2008 10:39 AM
@Clive
An excellent idea, and dare I suggest that there be some judging based on overall contribution to the field of security, such as new concepts, crypto protocols, and research contributions.
Nothing is more patronizing when the security media caters to the “lecture circuit” crowd, none of which have contributed anything to this field other than platitudes. I was at the SC Magazine show last week, and it was nauseating – “It’s all about the business,” “Measure first, then cut,” “Your company isn’t in business to do security, it’s in business to make money,” etc etc ad infinitum.
Joe Schmoe • December 16, 2008 3:43 PM
I agree with “Thom at December 12, 2008 1:11 PM”. Yes, there are a few other “greats” on the list. Too much credit is given to the “suits”!! Corporate babble or position does not mean they know anything. If you support a large organization you know what I mean.
in the holiday spirit • December 16, 2008 8:02 PM
@csrster “Bruce Schneier is surely all 25 of the 25 most influential security professionals.”
I can’t wait to see some Bruce Schneier jokes, a la Chuck Norris.
“Bruce can break a [insert crypto here] by staring it down.”
“TSA hired Bruce to consult for them for one day. Yesterday.”
“Bruce can secure a network with a padlock, bubble gum and a frayed USB cable.”
“Bruce was going to present a crypto paper in France, but they surrendered first.”
“Oracle hired Bruce to do a security audit. They then paid him ten times as much to never, ever tell anyone about the results — including them.”
“Colombian drug lords choose Bruce for all of their security needs.”
“Bruce: not just President of ThinkGeek.com, but also a client.”
“Why can’t Bruce’s girlfriend use birth control? Because there is no such thing as protection from Bruce.”
“Bruce once had over two million credit card numbers on his hard drive. By accident. You see, he’d had lunch in the VISA cafeteria that day . . .”
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Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
Bernie • December 12, 2008 12:36 PM
Bruce,
What do you think of the (work of the) other people on the list? I ask because I don’t know those people and I saw “terrorist” and “terrorism” about ten times on that web page.