Ministry of Propaganda

Ministry of Propaganda - 04/Feb/2004: "What is security?"

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What is security?

Last night I finished reading Beyond Fear - Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World by Bruce Schneier (who also publishes the Crypto-Gram Newsletter). An excellent book which I can only recommend to anyone interested in security, politics and everything in between.

He explains what security really means and how to best analyse and understand security needs and measures. While large parts of the book deal with the US and measures implemented after the 9/11 attacks, it is still an excellent and thought provoking read for anyone outside of the US. A lot of the ideas and models apply to anywhere in the world, several in particular to the UK at the moment.

The book explains why security is a neverending and changing process, as we have to adopt to different and changing threats. It explains the different ways security can be approached and how to assess the right defence against different threats. And it covers how some security measures needlessly erode civil liberties and the concerns emerging due to it.

Buy it, read it, be shocked about how pointless some measures are, be reassured that some measures actually work and understand the real risks you should be addressing.

End of entry

Entry trivia

Dodgy picture of the moment:

Picture of Armin with his aunt

Was I secure here? Probably yes. No strangers around. No WMD in sight either. Only my aunt and some strange concoction on the table.

End of entry trivia

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