News: 2011 Archives
Honorary Degree
Bruce Schneier received an honorary Doctor of Science degree (ScD) from the University of Westminster in London.
In Defense of Applied Cryptography
Over the weekend I found myself re-reading a few bits of Bruce Schneier’s Applied Cryptography for a historical research project, and it reminded me what a fantastically wonderful, completely insane piece of writing it is. I’m sure Bruce Schneier needs no additional validation in his life, but I do think it’s worth saying a few words about the book—and why we need more works like it in our field.
I should preface this all by saying that Applied Cryptography is probably one of the most influential crypto books ever written. It certainly played a part in getting me interested in the field. If you don’t own a copy, you should, if only to be awed by Bruce’s knowledge of bizarre, historical ciphers and all of the ways they’ve been broken. (Though the most recent edition is from 1996, so don’t go looking for up to date information in it.)…
The Security Industry All-Stars
From Bruce Schneier to Moxie Marlinspike, these folks are the ones to listen to for security insight
Excerpt
Bruce Schneier, chief technology officer of BT managed security solutions
With his skill in cryptography and security acumen, Schneier would be welcome on any All-Stars Security team. But it’s his ability to write candidly about social and political forces, as well the psychological aspects of security, that increasingly make him a philosopher in a world of technicians. His next book? He says it’s about “trust” and how a society does or does not foster it.
Most Powerful Voices in Security: Who are the Top 25?
Excerpt
In compiling our ranking of the Most Powerful Voices (“MPV”) in security, we took advantage of concepts similar to Google PageRank for people, working with researchers and thought leaders such as Mark Fidelman (see “The Most Powerful Voices in Open Source“).
The metrics needed to measure both broadcast power and profundity were identified through a number of studies performed across several industry categories. Although there have been many advancements in the area of social marketing, the work presented here still requires techniques not yet offered by any single social graph tool available today…
Audio: Ten Years Later, Are We Safer?
As the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks nears, many are asking if we’re safer now than we were before the attacks. Has heightened security and extra screening at the airport—including removing your shoes and belt—made you feel safer?
Host: Mark Trautwein
Guests:
- Barry Glassner, president of Lewis and Clark College and author of “The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things”
- Bruce Schneier, security technologist and author of “Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World”
- Steve Weber, professor of political science at UC Berkeley and author of “The End of Arrogance: America in the Global Competition of Ideas”…
Attackers Have Advantage in Cyberspace, Says Cybersecurity Expert
Homeland Security NewsWire: In your opinion, what is the cause behind the recent increase of sophisticated cyber attacks against major corporations and government entities by hacktivist groups like Anonymous, AntiSec, and LulzSec?
Bruce Schneier: I’m not sure there has been any recent increase of sophisticated cyberattacks. There has certainly been a recent increase in the press reporting incidences of sophisticated cyber attacks. I think this is because several groups have attached them to political causes—for example the torture of Bradley Manning by the United States—and because media attention begets more media attention. If there has been any increase in politically motivated hacking, it is because of the press attention being lavished on these sorts of cyberattacks makes them more attractive…
Interview: BT's Bruce Schneier
BT's Bruce Schneier has made a reputation for himself by exploring the unconventional sides of security. Drew Amorosi sat down with this industry luminary to gain a greater understanding of the man and, briefly, dive into the mind and life that is Bruce S
Bruce Schneier is, without question, a superstar of the security industry. Often labeled as a security “expert” or “guru,” there is perhaps nobody in the field that is more often quoted or respected. His name is as synonymous with security as Michael Jordan’s is with basketball, or the Beatles are with rock and roll. But, as he told me when I sat down with him in London this spring, “Bruce Schneier the security celebrity” was spawned from rather accidental beginnings.
“I actually don’t have a good creation myth, which I should—I should have made one up a decade ago, because I’m always asked, where did you get your security interest?” he responds jokingly. “The truth is, I’ve always been interested in security.”…
The 5 Biggest Biases We Fall Victim to
Bruce Schneier, an author who writes about how we perceive danger, gave a great talk at TED recently, outlining five cognitive biases people fall victim to when making decisions about risk.
None of the five were intended to relate to investing, but all of them can teach investors something about the rampant biases we make with our money.
1. We tend to exaggerate spectacular and rare risks and downplay common risks.
Schneier used the example of flying vs. driving. Driving is statistically more dangerous than flying, yet flying freaks many of us out…
Don't Blame Sony, You Can't Trust ANY Networks
The hack attack that forced Sony to take the Playstation Network and Sony Online Entertainment offline and resulted in the theft of personal information from tens of millions of people around the world wasn’t really Sony’s fault, it was an inevitability, a security expert tells Kotaku.
Bruce Schneier, internationally renowned security technologist and author of Applied Cryptography, Secrets and Lies and Schneier on Security, said that the only thing unusual about the break in to Sony’s dual networks is that they are used for gaming, something titillating to the mainstream media…
America's Necessary Response to Moscow's Airport Attack: Nothing
As Russia reels in the aftermath of a brutal terror attack yielding an estimated 35 casualties at Domodedovo Airport—Moscow’s busiest—much of the awe and reaction toward this specific incident is focused on the location: not just an airport, but a restaurant at an airport, outside of the baggage claim, before anyone reaches a security checkpoint. Especially as the terrorists in question are initially being reported as Arab, governments (and specifically: ours) beginning to react on their own turfs outside of Russia is a given. Yet, while responses by Western Governments to terror attacks …
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.