* Bruce Schneier’s latest book is about how to go beyond fear to think about security Bruce Schneier has been one of my heroes for many years, not least because of the clarity of his thought and the crispness of his writing. Readers of this column have seen references in the past to his free monthly Crypto-Gram newsletter, and I hope you have subscribed to that always-worthwhile publication.In 2000, Schneier published a groundbreaking primer for non-nerds called Secrets & Lies in which he confronted many misunderstandings and outright myths about security in the digital realm. In 2003, he continued his educational efforts with Beyond Fear, a superb analysis of the basis of rational thought about security in the wider world – not just computers and networks.Schneier is so clear that even his chapter titles stimulate thought:Part One: Sensible Security 1. All Security Involves Trade-offs2. Security Trade-offs Are Subjective 3. Security Trade-offs Depend on Power and AgendaPart Two: How Security Works4. Systems and How They Fail5. Knowing the Attackers6. Attackers Never Change Their Tunes, Just Their Instruments7. Technology Creates Security Imbalances 8. Security Is a Weakest-Link Problem9. Brittleness Makes for Bad Security10. Security Revolves Around People11. Detection Works Where Prevention Fails 12. Detection Is Useless Without Response13. Identification, Authentication And Authorization14. All Countermeasures Have Some Value, But No Countermeasure Is Perfect15. Fighting TerrorismPart Three: The Game of Security16. Negotiating for Security17. Security DemystifiedOne of the most important conceptual frameworks articulated by Schneier are five steps for analyzing any proposed security measure, whether for computers, networks or social systems:Step 1: What assets are you trying to protect?Step 2: What are the risks to those assets?Step 3: How well does the security solution mitigate those risks?Step 4: What other risks does the security solution cause?Step 5: What trade-offs does the security solution require?Over and over, Schneier shows that sloppy thinking leads to poor choices of security solutions that can make security worse instead of better. His analyses include such diverse issues as protecting credit-card numbers used for Internet shopping, security screening at airports, increased secrecy in the U.S. after 9/11, airline-passenger profiling, home burglar alarms, national ID cards, military actions against terrorism and other interesting topics.I would love to send policy makers in our nation’s government copies of this book, but I greatly fear that most would not read it. You, on the other hand, as intelligent readers of this column, will get a great deal out of reading Schneier’s book – and THEN you can try to explain its main points to your Congress critters and to any policy wonks you happen to know.Good luck – for all of us. Related content opinion Is anything useful happening in network management? Enterprises see the potential for AI to benefit network management, but progress so far is limited by AI’s ability to work with company-specific network data and the range of devices that AI can see. By Tom Nolle Nov 28, 2023 7 mins Generative AI Network Management Software brandpost Sponsored by HPE Aruba Networking SASE, security, and the future of enterprise networks By Adam Foss, VicePresident Pre-sales Consulting, HPE Aruba Networking Nov 28, 2023 4 mins SASE news AWS launches Cost Optimization Hub to help curb cloud expenses At its ongoing re:Invent 2023 conference, the cloud service provider introduced several new and free updates that are expected to help enterprises optimize their AWS costs. By Anirban Ghoshal Nov 28, 2023 3 mins Amazon re:Invent how-to Getting started on the Linux (or Unix) command line, Part 4 Pipes, aliases and scripts make Linux so much easier to use. By Sandra Henry-Stocker Nov 27, 2023 4 mins Linux Podcasts Videos Resources Events NEWSLETTERS Newsletter Promo Module Test Description for newsletter promo module. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe