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Schneier's Keynote At Linux.conf.au
Stony Stevenson writes "Computer security expert Bruce Schneier took a swipe at a number of sacred cows of security including RFID tags, national ID cards, and public CCTV security cameras in his keynote address to Linux.conf.au (currently being held in Melbourne, Australia). These technologies were all examples of security products tailored to provide the perception of security rather than tackling actual security risks, Schneier said. The discussion of public security — which has always been clouded by emotional decision making — has been railroaded by groups with vested interests such as security vendors and political groups, he claimed. 'For most of my career I would insult "security theater" and "snake oil" for being dumb. In fact, they're not dumb. As security designers we need to address both the feeling and the reality of security. We can't ignore one. It's not enough to make someone secure, that person needs to also realize they've been made secure. If no-one realizes it, no-one's going to buy it,' Schneier said."
Actually, Bruce wrote a crappy book copied from other sources, and couldn't hack doing real cryptography, so he's looking for other ways to look smart.
Don't you mean GNU/Linux? There is already a "theater" fo GNU/Linux: Freedom. We are not just fighting for technical superiority, we are fighting for the freedom of the people--just like a secure e-voting machine would, by the way of allowing fair and efficient election to be held.
... 1 reboot in 6 months of owning it)
Because 99% of us don't give a crap about RMS's holy war. We just want to get our work done.
(and re: your followup to this thread, my Vista notebook has greater than 3 months uptime