Bruce Schneier: KEYNOTE: The Psychology of Security

Black Hat Briefings, USA 2007 [Audio] Presentations from the security conference.

Security is both a feeling and a reality. You can feel secure without actually being secure, and you can be secure even though you don't feel secure. In the industry, we tend to discount the feeling in favor of the reality, but the difference between the two is important. It explains why we have so much security theater that doesn't work, and why so many smart security solutions go unimplemented. Two different fieldsbehavioral economics and the psychology of decision makingshed light on how we perceive security, risk, and cost. Learn how perception of risk matters and, perhaps more importantly, learn how to design security systems that will actually get used.
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist and CTO of BT Counterpane, referred to by The Economist as a "security guru." He is the author of eight booksincluding the best sellers "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World," "Secrets and Lies," and "Applied Cryptography"and hundreds of articles and academic papers. His influential newsletter, Crypto-Gram, and blog "Schneier on Security," are read by over 250,000 people. He is a prolific writer and lecturer, a frequent guest on television and radio, has testified before Congress, and is regularly quoted in the press on issues surrounding security and privacy.