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Our Blogs Open Sauce Talking security with Bruce Almighty | Talking security with Bruce Almighty |
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| by Sam Varghese | |
| Friday, 01 February 2008 | |
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Page 5 of 6 You've been talking to all kinds of people. Which do you think is the most effective forum? I have trouble measuring effectiveness. And it varies so widely. Sometimes it's the right 10 people in the audience. I tend to like large forums where people haven't heard me before. I mean, coming to Linux Australia is good because it's far away and a lot of people have not heard me before because they may not have come to events in the US or Europe, or because it's a good crowd that will appreciate what I have to say and I have a message and I think I can teach them something. I also like speaking at general business events. I wouldn't give the same talk; I would do a very different talk. But talking to non-security people, talking to a general audience, talking to a civil liberties audience, I think is important. It's hard to say which is more effective, and I think everything is effective in its own way. But your books have been among the more effective. A book is an incredible piece of leverage because you write once. Books and writings - I have 150,000 people who read Cryptogram. That's an enormous amount of leverage. Here at Linux Australia there's about 600 to 700 people in the audience. You know, that's a little bit of leverage. But if I write an essay - let's say an op-ed in the Washington Post or the Washington Journal, or even in the Sydney Morning Herald, I'm reaching a lot more people who might not hear what I have to say otherwise. That's why I like it when The Age or the Sydney Morning Herald grabs something that I write. I like it when that happens because here's something that I write and then it goes out to people who might not read me otherwise. I think that's important. I love it when you say I want to republish this. It's fantastic. Your commercial success hasn't, in any way, been affected due to your attitude, right? It hasn't, but maybe it has, you know. Maybe I'd be wealthier. Maybe I'd be more successful in business if I focused on business. But life is a trade-off, security is a trade-off. You do what you want, and you do what you have to do. And I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I get a good salary and I can say what I want. And maybe I could get a better salary if I stayed quiet and told a corporate lie and become the vice-president of something, but you know, I'm okay with not doing that. Looking ahead, what are the things you think you'll be writing about? More and more of my writing is about the social aspects of security. About psychology, about economics and I think that's where interesting problems are and I think that's what I like looking at. I like looking at political systems as a way to solve security problems. How people subvert systems, looking at capitalism and communism, or any different types of social ideologies, from the lens of a security problem. I think there's a lot of insight to be gained there. So I'm going to be writing more about that. And a lot about this psychology. Do you think politicians will accept your ideas? You know, it's just another lens to look through. I think there's politicians who will agree with you, and there will be those who don't. So, the answer will be all over the map. Why do you think other people don't make an effort to do this kind of thing? I think this is something I"m good at. It's sort of my no-bullshit, this-is-the-way-it-is attitude, and the way I talk. I think that's just the way I talk and write and it turns out to be very valuable. |
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