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noodles123's review against another edition
5.0
Very accessible and very good balance between the computer science, political and legal aspects of the issue.
howardgo's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a great primer on the types of issues that we face with internet technology becoming embedded in everything. It explains them at a level the average person can understand as well as exploring some ways to approach resolve those issues. The key to the situation is openness and asking the right questions. This book is a springboard to asking the right questions so we can get to better answers.
Some quotes from the book--
On why we should not allow even law enforcement to have so-called "backdoors":
"Imagine that every house could be opened with a master key, and this was known to the criminals. Fixing those locks would also mean that criminals' safe houses would be more secure, but it's pretty clear that this downside would be worth the trade-off of protecting everyone's house."
"Just as we don't think about road rage and car bombs in the same way, even though they both involve cars, we can't treat all cyber threats the in the same way. I don't think US policy makers understand that yet, but they'll need to if we want them to act reasonably and responsibly."
"...we are much more likely to engineer our way out of the problems we face than we are to restrict our way out of them."
"Despite the pessimistic tone of much of this book, I am optimistic about cybersecurity in the long term. Eventually, we will solve this."
"...the mutual distrust between government and tech companies--is dangerous...."
Some quotes from the book--
On why we should not allow even law enforcement to have so-called "backdoors":
"Imagine that every house could be opened with a master key, and this was known to the criminals. Fixing those locks would also mean that criminals' safe houses would be more secure, but it's pretty clear that this downside would be worth the trade-off of protecting everyone's house."
"Just as we don't think about road rage and car bombs in the same way, even though they both involve cars, we can't treat all cyber threats the in the same way. I don't think US policy makers understand that yet, but they'll need to if we want them to act reasonably and responsibly."
"...we are much more likely to engineer our way out of the problems we face than we are to restrict our way out of them."
"Despite the pessimistic tone of much of this book, I am optimistic about cybersecurity in the long term. Eventually, we will solve this."
"...the mutual distrust between government and tech companies--is dangerous...."
ruaridhmollica's review against another edition
4.0
A thorough analysis of the cyber security risks imposed by the internet, more specially the growing connection of IoT devices to our networks.
Schneier discusses things like product vulnerabilities and the ease of cyber attacks, the governments desire of surveillance over security, and the lack of transparency given to the public by corporations.
He proposes strong plans for the improvement of global cyber security and data privacy, along with how government policy done right can help turn us in a direction to a better, safe, and peaceful inter-connected world.
Overall, a very informative (albeit terrifying) view into how unstable everything really is (even if it’s all a little cherrypicked). He does repeat a little too much sometimes, and a few of his proposals for the future seem rather implausible, but nonetheless a great read.
Schneier discusses things like product vulnerabilities and the ease of cyber attacks, the governments desire of surveillance over security, and the lack of transparency given to the public by corporations.
He proposes strong plans for the improvement of global cyber security and data privacy, along with how government policy done right can help turn us in a direction to a better, safe, and peaceful inter-connected world.
Overall, a very informative (albeit terrifying) view into how unstable everything really is (even if it’s all a little cherrypicked). He does repeat a little too much sometimes, and a few of his proposals for the future seem rather implausible, but nonetheless a great read.
cups's review against another edition
4.0
Really good intro into the issue, doesn’t go too far into detail and doesn’t require technical knowledge. Lots of good concrete examples of what is already happening due to internet insecurity and how this can continue to worsen if steps are not taken! The internet is literally EVERYWHERE now, everything is a computer and it’s dumb how government doesn’t seem to take that too seriously. Proves yet again that our current system doesn’t allow politicians to deal with long term issues which is dumb as hell. Not really about personal steps you can take as the average consumer since like in all other industries government regulation is needed! When pacemakers, cars, bioprinters and power stations all connect to the internet/ are hackable we need to secure that shit!!
Shall leave you with my fav tidbits
1. that perhaps a way to help combat insecurity would lead to us eventually needing internet insurance the same way we have car or home insurance
2. Criminals asking for ransom have a victim helpline to help you send the ransom money. Way to rub that shit in the victims face man. That’s big dick energy for sure.
PS Why do so many nonfiction books get boring by the last 75 pages?
PPS We’re no longer in the era of Charles Dickens, stop repeating yourself so often and get to the meat of the issue. Hence why you’re only getting a 4 star my guy.
Shall leave you with my fav tidbits
1. that perhaps a way to help combat insecurity would lead to us eventually needing internet insurance the same way we have car or home insurance
2. Criminals asking for ransom have a victim helpline to help you send the ransom money. Way to rub that shit in the victims face man. That’s big dick energy for sure.
PS Why do so many nonfiction books get boring by the last 75 pages?
PPS We’re no longer in the era of Charles Dickens, stop repeating yourself so often and get to the meat of the issue. Hence why you’re only getting a 4 star my guy.
prophet's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
If you're curious or concerned about the recent deluge of ransomware attacks and data breaches, I highly recommend this book. Schneier goes into detail how the internet got this insecure, what needs to be done to secure it, and how these actions can be enforced. Governments and the marketplace currently have no incentives to invest in it, so technologists and politicians need to collaborate and guide society down a safer path.