Quotes from Bruce Schneier

It's not that math can solve the world's problems. It's just that the world's problems would be easier to solve if everyone just knew a little bit more math.

It's not just politicians to blame for this. The media are culpable, too. By fixating on rare and spectacular events, they condition us to behave as if terrorism were much more common than it is and to fear it far out of proportion to its actual incidence. And we are also at fault, if we buy the propaganda the media are selling.

Once the technology is in place, there will always be the temptation to use it. And it is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state.

Unless attribution is followed by an effective response, it makes a country look weak, and it often makes sense for a nation not to publicly attribute a cyberattack unless it can respond.

We're still in the honeymoon phase of connectivity. Governments and corporations are punch-drunk on our data, and the rush to connect everything is driven by an even greater desire for power and market share.

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

There are two types of encryption: one that will prevent your sister from reading your diary and one that will prevent your government.

When people are scared, they need something done that will make them feel safe, even if it doesn't truly make them safer. Politicians naturally want to do something in response to crisis, even if that something doesn't make any sense. But unfortunately for politicians, the security measures that work are largely invisible.

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

When a big company lays you off, they often give you a year's salary to 'go pursue a dream.' If you're stupid, you panic and get another job. If you're smart, you take the money and use the time to figure out what you want to do next.

Surveillance is the business model of the Internet.

Amateurs hack systems, professionals hack people.

No one can duplicate the confidence that RSA offers after 20 years of cryptanalytic review.

The fundamental driver in computer security, in all of the computer industry, is economics. That requires a lot of re-education for us security geeks.

There's an entire flight simulator hidden in every copy of Microsoft Excel 97.

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

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.

Terrorism is a crime against the mind. We win by refusing fear.