IP: extract from Bruce Schneier's Crypto-Gram

[David Farber <dfarber@earthlink.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: "Charles Arthur, The Independent" <carthur@independent.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2002 13:04:38 
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: extract from Bruce Schneier's Crypto-Gram


Very apposite; from a rather longer piece about costs vs effectiveness of
security measures of all sorts, such as ID cards and no-fly zones, the
conclusion:

"This five-step process works for any security measure, past, present, or
future:

   1) What problem does it solve?
   2) How well does it solve the problem?
   3) What new problems does it add?
   4) What are the economic and social costs?
   5) Given the above, is it worth the costs?

When you start using it, you'd be surprised how ineffectual most security
is these days.  For example, only two of the airline security measures put
in place since September 11 have any real value: reinforcing the cockpit
door, and convincing passengers to fight back.  Everything else falls
somewhere between marginally improving security and a placebo."

(Cryptogram is at <http://www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram.html>).


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