Bruce Schneier

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Bruce Schneier

Bruce Schneier (born January 15, 1963) is an American cryptographer, computer security specialist, and writer. He is the author of several books on computer security and cryptography, and is the founder and chief technology officer of BT Counterpane[1], formerly Counterpane Internet Security, Inc.

1 Education
2 Writings on cryptography
3 Writings on computer security and general security
4 Other writing
5 Miscellaneous
6 Publications
7 See also
8 External links
9 References
10 RSS Feed

[edit] Education

Originally from New York City, Schneier currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Schneier has a Master's degree in computer science from American University and a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University of Rochester. Before Counterpane, he worked at the United States Department of Defense and then AT&T Bell Labs.

[edit] Writings on cryptography

Schneier's Applied Cryptography is a popular and widely regarded reference work for cryptography. Schneier has designed or co-designed several cryptographic algorithms, including the Blowfish, Twofish and MacGuffin block ciphers, the Helix and Phelix stream ciphers, and the Yarrow and Fortuna cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generators. Solitaire is a cryptographic algorithm developed by Schneier for use by people without access to a computer, called Pontifex in Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon. He is the author or coauthor of hundreds of academic cryptography papers.

However, Schneier now denounces his early success as a naive, mathematical, and ivory tower view of what is inherently a people problem. In Applied Cryptography, he implies that correctly implemented algorithms and technology promise safety and secrecy, and that following security protocol ensures security, regardless of the behavior of others. Schneier now argues that the incontrovertible mathematical guarantees miss the point. As he describes in Secrets and Lies, a business which uses RSA encryption to protect its data without considering how the cryptographic keys are handled by employees on "complex, unstable, buggy" computers has failed to properly protect the information. An actual security solution that includes technology, must also take into account the vagaries of hardware, software, networks, people, economics, and business. Schneier is now referring people trying to implement actually secure systems to his new book with Niels Ferguson, Practical Cryptography.

[edit] Writings on computer security and general security

In 2000, Schneier published Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World. In 2003, Schneier published Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World

Schneier writes a freely available monthly Internet newsletter on computer and other security issues, Crypto-Gram, as well as a security blog [2]. He is frequently quoted in the press on computer and other security issues, pointing out flaws in security and cryptographic implementations ranging from biometrics to the post-September 11 airline security measures.

[edit] Other writing

Schneier and his wife, Karen Cooper, write restaurant reviews for a number of Minneapolis papers, including the Star Tribune.^[1]

Schneier and Cooper were nominated in 2000 for the Hugo Award, in the category of Best Related Book, for their Minicon 34 Restaurant Guide^[2], a work originally published for the Minneapolis science fiction convention Minicon but which gained a readership internationally in science fiction fandom for its wit and good humor.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Bruce Schneier is name-dropped in the blockbuster book The Da Vinci Code:

Da Vinci had been a cryptography pioneer, Sophie knew, although he was seldom given credit. Sophie's university instructors, while presenting computer encryption methods for securing data, praised modern cryptologists like Zimmermann and Schneier but failed to mention that it was Leonardo who had invented one of the first rudimentary forms of public key encryption centuries ago.^[3]

The website geekz.co.uk features Bruce Schneier in a parody of Chuck Norris Facts called "Bruce Schneier Facts" featuring lines such as "Most people use passwords. Some people use passphrases. Bruce Schneier uses an epic passpoem, detailing the life and works of seven mythical Norse heroes."

[edit] Publications

Schneier, Bruce. Applied Cryptography, John Wiley & Sons, 1994. ISBN 0-471-59756-2
Schneier, Bruce. Protect Your Macintosh, Peachpit Press, 1994. ISBN 1-56609-101-2
Schneier, Bruce. E-Mail Security, John Wiley & Sons, 1995. ISBN 0-471-05318-X
Schneier, Bruce. Applied Cryptography, Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 1996. ISBN 0-471-11709-9
Schneier, Bruce; Kelsey, John; Whiting, Doug; Wagner, David; Hall, Chris; Ferguson, Niels. The Twofish Encryption Algorithm, John Wiley & Sons, 1996. ISBN 0-471-35381-7
Schneier, Bruce; Banisar, David. The Electronic Privacy Papers, John Wiley & Sons, 1997. ISBN 0-471-12297-1
Schneier, Bruce. Secrets and Lies, John Wiley & Sons, 2000. ISBN 0-471-25311-1
Schneier, Bruce. Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly about Security in an Uncertain World, Copernicus Books, 2003. ISBN 0-387-02620-7
Ferguson, Niels; Schneier, Bruce. Practical Cryptography, John Wiley & Sons, 2003. ISBN 0-471-22357-3