News in the Category "Written Interviews"
Page 17 of 18
Author Q & A: Bruce vs. Bruce
The following is a conversation between Bruce Schneier—a renowned security expert and founder and CTO of Counterpane Internet Security, Inc. whose newest book, Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World, explains how security really works—and Bruce Sterling, whose new techno-thriller, The Zenith Angle, is about computer security and Washington politics. Sterling also wrote The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier, a nonfiction book about computer hackers and cyber-police. The two Bruces, long-time admirers of each other’s work, got together to discuss the nexus of security, technology, and the real world…
'An Enormous Waste of Money'
A security expert argues that America is spending its money ineffectively in the fight against terrorism
March 17 – The coordinated train bombings last Thursday in Spain marked the country’s deadliest terror attack ever, killing at least 200 and injuring at least 1,500. Indications—still unconfirmed—that Islamic fundamentalists with ties to Al Qaeda may have been behind the blasts have prompted emergency meetings among European leaders and raised fears of another attack on the United States. But are Washington’s precautions enough? And has its allocation of resources focused too much on air safety and not enough on other forms of public transportation?…
"Bankernas kunder utan säkerhet"
Först skrev han “Applied Cryptography” som snabbt blev standardverket om kryptering. Sedan började han tvivla på att kryptering var nyckeln till datasäkerhet.
Datasäkerhet, säger Bruce Schneier, står och faller med mänskligt omdöme. I stället för att jaga efter nya krypteringsmetoder bör vi komma ihåg gamla sanningar som att ingen kedja är starkare än sin svagaste länk. Här svarar Bruce Schneier på Computer Swedens frågor om IT-säkerhet.
Vad brukar företag och myndigheter bortse från när det gäller IT-säkerhet?
– Människorna. De utgår från att säkerhet är ett tekniskt problem och tar till tekniska lösningar. Säkerhet är i själva verket ett socialt problem och det som behövs är sociala lösningar…
Improved Security Requires IT Diversity
In his recently released book, Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World (Copernicus Books, 2003), security guru Bruce Schneier argues for a more common-sense and less technology-centric approach to both IT security and physical security. In this interview with Computerworld, Schneier shares his views on IT security.
You recently co-wrote the report “CyberInsecurity: The Cost of Monopoly. How the Dominance of Microsoft’s Products Poses a Risk to Security.” Would you have written it if the world had been standardized around another operating system? …
Security Executive Stresses Trade-Offs
It’s a gutsy way to start a book on security. In “Beyond Fear,” published this month by Copernicus Books, Bruce Schneier asks us to set aside our revulsion and horror to grasp what the 9-11 terrorists accomplished. What they did, he says, was efficient, audacious, well-planned, simple and, from their view, successful. This understanding is key to moving beyond fear and improving security, says Schneier, who created some well-known encryption algorithms—formulas used to scramble and unscramble computer data. He’s also founder and chief technology officer of Cupertino, Calif.-based computer security monitoring company Counterpane Internet Security Inc. The privately held company has attracted more than $50 million from some big-name venture funds. To improve security, we must demystify it and consider the trade-offs, he says. He hates the idea of national ID cards, opposes use of computerized voting machines and abhors the notion of arming commercial airline pilots. He recently spoke with IBD about security…
Bruce Schneier: The Evolution of a Cryptographer
For a while, it seemed as if Bruce Schneier himself was encrypted. No one could decipher his whereabouts for an interview with CSO. This was unusual because Schneier, founder and CTO of Counterpane Internet Security, is usually aggressively available to the press. Plus, he has a new book to promote—Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World—a decidedly iconoclastic and non-IT view of security. But the book also challenges physical security practitioners to learn a thing or two from the infosecurity ranks: to think in terms of systems…
"We've Made Bad Security Tradeoffs"
Bruce Schneier is a rare creature in the computer-security world. Although he made his name as an alpha geek in cryptography and later, as chief technology officer of Net-security outfit Counterpane, Schneier can also speak to laypeople about the general security matters that increasingly touch all of our lives.
In the post September 11 era, he has emerged as one of the more cogent and quotable thinkers on the topic. In particular, he has asked hard questions about the effectiveness of some of the security measures passed after the terrorists’ massacre. Schneier’s latest book, Beyond Fear (Copernicus Books, 2003), is a highly readable compendium of his thoughts on the various aspects of real-world security. Designed for a general audience, it’s a great introduction to a complicated and confusing topic. I interviewed Schneier via e-mail over the week of Aug. 25. Here are edited excerpts of our exchange:…
Perspectives from the Field: Bruce Schneier, Encryption Expert
Bruce Schneier contends that the strongest security systems benefit from redundancy and variety. And as the Homeland Security Department consolidates a number of different agencies, Schneier warns that entrusting a centralized authority with securing the nation may make the country less, rather than more, secure.
Few in the field of information technology security have more expertise and industry respect than Schneier. Not only is he the author of “Applied Cryptography,” one of the seminal textbooks on encryption, but his Two fish encryption algorithm was a finalist far the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s new Federal Advanced Encryption Standard. He is also founder and chief technical officer of managed security service provider Counterpane Internet Security Inc., Cupertino, Calif., and publishes his own Crypto-Gram newsletter (http://www.counterpane .com/crypto-gram.html). Schneier Spoke with Staff Writer Joab Jackson to discuss how best to secure the nation’s IT and physical infrastructures…
Security Vision: Bruce Schneier
Tech entrepreneur Bruce Schneier is one of America’s best-known computer security experts. His testimony before Congress helped defeat legal restrictions on cryptography sought by the FBI and the National Security Agency when an appellate court ruled in 1999 that crypto algorithms were a form of speech covered by the First Amendment.
Schneier co-founded security services company Counterpane Internet Security, where he serves as chief technologist. Arguing that constant vigilance, not technology, is the best defense against computer break-ins, Schneier believes security breaches are nonetheless fated to increase as networking systems become more complex…
Three Minutes With Security Expert Bruce Schneier
Security expert pushes full disclosure, forcing vendors to admit and fix bugs quickly.
Bruce Schneier is founder and chief technology officer of Internet security firm Counterpane. He has written two books on cryptography and computer security, Secrets and Lies and Applied Cryptography, and is an outspoken critic of Microsoft and other software vendors that produce products that contain dangerous security holes. We spoke with him about who is responsible for software security flaws and what consumers can do about the growing problem.
PCW: Are there more security holes in software, or are we just getting better at finding them?…
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.