The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

As a CIO in my day job, I can tell you we come across a lot of blunders that will age you ten years if you don’t build in safeguards. Here’s a great piece that breaks it all down in a simple format: “The Six Dumbest Ideas in Computer Security.” Maybe I’m a sucker for lists, but this is a good read if you wrestle with security.

“Let me introduce you to the six dumbest ideas in computer security. What are they? They’re the anti-good ideas. They’re the brain damage that makes your $100,000 ASIC-based turbo-stateful packet-mulching firewall transparent to hackers. Where do anti-good ideas come from? They come from misguided attempts to do the impossible - which is another way of saying “trying to ignore reality.” Frequently those misguided attempts are sincere efforts by well-meaning people or companies who just don’t fully understand the situation, but other times it’s just a bunch of savvy entrepreneurs with a well-marketed piece of junk they’re selling to make a fast buck. In either case, these dumb ideas are the fundamental reason(s) why all that money you spend on information security is going to be wasted, unless you somehow manage to avoid them.

For your convenience, I’ve listed the dumb ideas in descending order from the most-frequently-seen. If you can avoid falling into the the trap of the first three, you’re among the few true computer security elite.

#1) Default Permit
Read the Complete List Here Source: Ranum.com