Slashdot Mirror
Beyond Fear
He then goes on to apply this method to a series of security issues while covering the various types of security and their weaknesses. For the most part this not a technical evaluation of the tools used, but rather an analysis for each example of what the security goals are and how the tools and technology achieve or fail to achieve those goals. Even more importantly, he deals with the tradeoffs inherent in any security system.
Schneier applies this method not only to the global issues that have come up since 9/11, from airline security to protecting government secrets, but also to personal issues, including tradeoffs in personal home security. By doing so, he takes principles which might be hard for some to understand in the abstract and makes it clear how they apply in situations almost everyone has thought about.
By drawing parallels, for instance, between how you might select a home alarm system to how you might evaluate the use of face recognition at the airport, Schneier shows that you don't have to be a security "expert" to think logically about security. He brings to the forefront the tradeoffs that you made in these personal choices; for example, the downside of dealing with deactivating an alarm system every time you come home. Then, in turn, he shows how you must consider the problem of people being falsely identified by the face recognition system at the airport.
Given this strong framework, he then uses his method to analytically and dispassionately tear apart most of the silly and stupid security methods (note my dispassion here) that have been put in place or considered in the past few years, from airline security methods to national ID cards. With a combination of funny yet pointed anecdotes, clear statistics and the occasional Harry Potter reference, Schneier uses his talent for cogent, rational explanation to show how people can think about security in the modern world, instead of simply panicking at every ominous news report.
To Read Or Not To Read So it sounds like a good book and probably would be for some, but there was not enough new content for me to make it worth my limited reading time. Perhaps due to my general interest in security or just because waiting in line at the airport has already given me a lot of time to think, but I have already considered most of the ideas Schneier raises in Beyond Fear. I own a shredder, but not an alarm system, because I have considered the risks and costs. I dislike the idea of a National ID card because I was already afraid of what someone might do who got access to it, and already monitor my credit report. I have written my local representative that while his recent bill to remove SSNs from insurance cards is nice, it's far too late (and how about just getting people to stop using SSN's as passwords?).If this describes you, skip the book. However you might note above I didn't say this was a waste of my money. This book is soon going to find its way into hands of friends and relations who need to think about security. It is a great introduction to a way of thinking that is critical in a post-9/11 world. It should be required reading for members of Congress before any more security laws are passed based only on the need to do something instead of rational thought.
Summary If you think consciously about security, know who Schneier is, or have ever noticed (and complained) that many airport security measures make no sense, you probably don't need this book. If you have only considered this topic in general, though, and want a book to focus your thoughts, Beyond Fear will do that. Finally, if you have friends who don't yet think this way (admit it, we all do), get this book into their hands.You can purchase Beyond Fear from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Prepare to be dazzled! Well, as Timothy already mentioned, the name of the book that I read was Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security In an Uncertain World. [Reads from back cover] It's about these ... fears. Fears... with security issues ... and ... mehtods for dealing
with them ...
and
statistics ... Did I mention this book
was written by a guy named Bruce Schneier? And published by the good
people at Copernicus Books. So, in conclusion, on the Slashdot scale of one to
ten,
ten being the highest, one being the lowest, and five being average, I give this
book ... a seven. Any questions? Nope? Then I'll just sit down
I am sure most Slashdot readers know Schneier's name and his work.
Oh sure,if he's from soviet russia and he, for one, welcomes 1-2-3-profiting from first posts, I'm sure most Slashdot readers know him.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
11. Buy a tinfoil hat and tell the little alien on your shoulder to get one too.
Just renounce your US citizenship but remain in SF. That way you'll now be an illegal alien. Then just head on over to the DMV and they'll print your license out for you straight away.
...quit being such a goddamned pussy. Yeah, yeah, I know... "flamebait" or "troll", but I honestly believe this. The US, especially, is increasingly full of people afraid to leave their houses, and when they do, they're armed to the teeth. I don't know what everybody's so goddamned afraid of. Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" suggested this in a roundabout way, but I believe, that that's a big problem with the US. Everybody's becoming scared of their own shadow. Afraid of terrorists. Afraid of crime. Afraid of "cyber attacks" (this is beyond ridiculous). I suggest quit being such a goddamned pussy, that's what I suggest.