Bruce Schneier Quotes

Quotes about:

• If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don't understand the problems and you don't understand the technology.

  Bruce Schneier

  Technology, Thinking, Understanding

  Bruce Schneier (2011). “Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World”, p.9, John Wiley & Sons

  162 Copy quote

• Amateurs hack systems, professionals hack people.

  Bruce Schneier

  People, Computer, Hacks

  60 Copy quote

• Security is a process, not a product.

  Bruce Schneier

  Process, Products, Security

  Bruce Schneier (2011). “Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World”, p.257, John Wiley & Sons

  42 Copy quote

• The mantra of any good security engineer is: "Security is a not a product, but a process." It's more than designing strong cryptography into a system; it's designing the entire system such that all security measures, including cryptography, work together.

  Bruce Schneier

  Strong, Design, Working Together

  "Risks of Relying on Cryptography" by Bruce Schneier, www.schneier.com. October 1999.

  58 Copy quote

• More people are killed every year by pigs than by sharks, which shows you how good we are at evaluating risk.

  Bruce Schneier

  Pigs, Sharks, Years

  Bruce Schneier (2006). “Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World”, p.29, Springer Science & Business Media

  54 Copy quote

• People often represent the weakest link in the security chain and are chronically responsible for the failure of security systems.

  Bruce Schneier

  Security Systems, People, Links

  Bruce Schneier (2000). “Secrets and lies: digital security in a networked world”, Wiley

  46 Copy quote

• I am regularly asked what the average Internet user can do to ensure his security. My first answer is usually 'Nothing; you're screwed'.

  Bruce Schneier

  Average, Answers, Internet Users

  37 Copy quote

• The more technological a society is, the greater the security gap is.

  Bruce Schneier

  Gaps, Technological, Greater

  Bruce Schneier (2012). “Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive”, p.301, John Wiley & Sons

  16 Copy quote

• It is insufficient to protect ourselves with laws; we need to protect ourselves with mathematics.

  Bruce Schneier

  Law, Needs, Mathematics

  Bruce Schneier (2011). “Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World”, p.8, John Wiley & Sons

  31 Copy quote

• History has taught us: never underestimate the amount of money, time, and effort someone will expend to thwart a security system. It's always better to assume the worst. Assume your adversaries are better than they are. Assume science and technology will soon be able to do things they cannot yet. Give yourself a margin for error. Give yourself more security than you need today. When the unexpected happens, you'll be glad you did.

  Bruce Schneier

  Technology, Errors, Security Systems

  39 Copy quote

• Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.

  Bruce Schneier

  Requirements, Maintaining, Dignity

  Bruce Schneier (2009). “Schneier on Security”, p.69, John Wiley & Sons

  35 Copy quote

• Surveillance is the business model of the Internet.

  Bruce Schneier

  Surveillance, Internet, Models

  "On Internet Privacy, Be Very Afraid". Interview with Liz Mineo, news.harvard.edu. August 24, 2017.

  16 Copy quote

• Only amateurs attack machines; professionals target people.

  Bruce Schneier

  People, Target, Machines

  "Semantic Attacks: The Third Wave of Network Attacks". Cryptogram Newsletter, www.schneier.com. October 15, 2000.

  8 Copy quote

• If someone steals your password, you can change it. But if someone steals your thumbprint, you can't get a new thumb. The failure modes are very different.

  Bruce Schneier

  Different, Thumbs, Thumbprints

  42 Copy quote

• Hardware is easy to protect: lock it in a room, chain it to a desk, or buy a spare. Information poses more of a problem. It can exist in more than one place; be transported halfway across the planet in seconds; and be stolen without your knowledge.

  Bruce Schneier

  Locks, Information, Rooms

  36 Copy quote

• Don't make the mistake of thinking you're Facebook's customer, you're not - you're the product.

  Bruce Schneier

  Mistake, Thinking, Customers

  36 Copy quote

• There are two kinds of cryptography in this world: cryptography that will stop your kid sister from reading your files, and cryptography that will stop major governments from reading your files.

  Bruce Schneier

  Reading, Kids, Government

  Bruce Schneier (1996). “Applied cryptography: protocols, algorithms, and source code in C”, John Wiley & Sons Inc

  84 Copy quote

• The user's going to pick dancing pigs over security every time.

  Bruce Schneier

  Pigs, Dancing, Picks

  13 Copy quote

• Anyone, from the most clueless amateur to the best cryptographer, can create an algorithm that he himself can't break.

  Bruce Schneier

  Clueless, Algorithms, Break

  "Memo to the Amateur Cipher Designer". Cryptogram Newsletter, www.schneier.com. October 15, 1998.

  34 Copy quote

• The whole notion of passwords is based on an oxymoron. The idea is to have a random string that is easy to remember. Unfortunately, if it's easy to remember, it's something nonrandom like 'Susan.' And if it's random, like 'r7U2*Qnp,' then it's not easy to remember.

  Bruce Schneier

  Ideas, Remember, Easy

  Bruce Schneier (2011). “Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World”, p.131, John Wiley & Sons

  32 Copy quote

• For if we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that-either now or in the uncertain future-patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable.

  Bruce Schneier

  Children, Eye, Individuality

  41 Copy quote

• If you ask amateurs to act as front-line security personnel, you shouldn't be surprised when you get amateur security.

  Bruce Schneier

  Lines, Asks, Ifs

  "How We Won the War on Thai Chili Sauce" by Bruce Schneier, www.wired.com. November 1, 2007.

  9 Copy quote

• Privacy is a fundamental human need.

  Bruce Schneier

  Needs, Fundamentals, Privacy

  "Data and Goliath: Privacy Expert Explains the Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World". Interview with Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, www.democracynow.org. March 13, 2015.

  8 Copy quote

• Terrorists can only take my life. Only my government can take my freedom.

  Bruce Schneier

  Government, Liberty, Terrorist

  8 Copy quote

• Metadata equals surveillance; it's that simple.

  Bruce Schneier

  Simple, Surveillance, Metadata

  "Metadata Equals Surveillance". www.schneier.com. September 23, 2013.

  13 Copy quote

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