I’ve been meaning to read Bruce Schneier’s Beyond Fear. This interview (from last year) has reminded me how interesting he is:
In his lated book, Beyond Fear, security guru Bruce Schneier goes beyond cryptography and network security to challenge our post-9/11 national security practices. Here are some teasers:
- “We’re seeing so much nonsense after 9/11, and so many people are saying things about security, about terrorism that just makes no sense.”
- “Homeland security measures are an enormous waste of money.”
- “If the goal of security is to protect against yesterday’s attacks, we’re really good at it.”
- “The system didn’t fail in the way the designers expected.”
- “Attackers exploit the rarity of failures.”
- “More people are killed every year by pigs than by sharks, which shows you how good we are at evaluating risk.”
- “Did you ever wonder why tweezers were confiscated at security checkpoints, but matches and cigarette lighters — actual combustible materials — were not?…If the tweezers lobby had more power, I’m sure they would have been allowed on board as well.”
- “When the U.S. Government says that security against terrorism is worth curtailing individual civil liberties, it’s because the cost of that decision is not borne by those making it.”
- “…people make bad security trade-offs when they’re scared.”
A complete transcript is also available. (Hat tip to Boing Boing.)