Click here to kill everybody
by Bruce Schneier · first published 2018
46% recommend54% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Accessible overview of how software and internet connectivity create security failures in IoT, cars, and critical systems; suits readers wanting a non-technical grounding in cybersecurity risk and policy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"The internet is powerful, but it is not safe. As "smart" devices proliferate the risks will get worse, unless we act now. From driverless cars to smart thermostats, from autonomous stock-trading systems to drones equipped with their own behavioral algorithms, the internet now has direct effects on the physical world. While this computerized future, often called the Internet of Things, carries enormous potential, best-selling author Bruce Schneier argues that catastrophe awaits in its new vulnerabilities and dangers. Forget data theft: cutting-edge digital attackers can now literally crash you
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…technology can't be stopped, but we're still early enough in the game to limit data identification, correlation and discrimination. Edit: I'd also like to recommend Schneier's books. For instance, his "Click Here To Kill Everybody" is a great look at how security with IoT is failing, why companies _want_ it to fail, and what sort of actionable legislation would fix these issues. He's not a pie-in-the-sky zealot for privacy.
on “Bruce Schneier: Banning Facial Recognition Isn’t Enough” ↗…use it safely. Without regulation, vehicle collisions would be rampant and the system would be far less stable. Not all government regulation and oversight is bad. I highly recommend reading the book "Click here to kill everybody" by Bruce Schneier [1]. Bruce has been in the cyber-security world for a long time now and is considered one of the world's foremost experts on cryptography and computer security. In this book he makes…
on “Postbank to replace 12M bank cards after employees steal 'master key'” ↗Click here to kill everybody. Number theory step by step. Anyone tried The Real Anthony Fauci? Looks it's a bestseller of this year everywhere.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗My knowledge derives from personal experience, but if you want digestible evidence you can go read the books: “Click Here to Kill Everybody” by well known cryptographer Bruce Schneier or “This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends” by the lead cybersecurity reporter of the New York Times, Nicole Perlroth.
on “UnitedHealth Group has paid more than $2B to providers following cyberattack” ↗I am trying to get rid of any smart devices in my life. I need less things connected to the internet not more. I bought Bruce Shneier's "Click Here to Kill Everybody, and that just convinced me even more. Software is a weak point, and I'd rather have the least amount possible in my "mission critical" everyday life gadgets. I want single-purpose, purpose built devices…
on “WD My Book users wake up to find their data deleted” ↗…This is why I've been so concerned about cybersecurity and cyberwarfare. I do not see gross competence here and most of the people I respect that write about this type of thing are sounding the alarm. Click Here to Kill Everybody or Matt Tait (@pwnallthethings on Twitter) ending an Infiltrate conference talk with a nuclear bomb as the final image.
on “CIA hacking unit failed to protect its systems, allowing Vault 7 disclosure” ↗…I've moved on. It's more important to focus on election security and physical security at this point. Infosec is dead. Five years ago Bruce Schneier wrote a book called "Carry On" now he has one called "Click Here to Kill Everybody". Just five years. We're in a technological growth feedback function and we're unable to predict it.
on “Equifax IT staff had to rerun hackers' queries to work out what was nicked” ↗…innocent users have their privacy violated in order to help authorities catch "dumb" criminals who could have very well been caught through countless other avenues. disclaimer: I just read Bruce Schneier's "Click Here To Kill Everybody" after the pipeline ransomware attack, and these points come straight from it.
on “Apple's child protection features spark concern within its own ranks: sources” ↗…fascinating look at the move from traditional print to online news. --- The perfect weapon : war, sabotage, and fear in the cyber age – Sanger, David E. The subtitle says it all. From that I’m now reading ‘Click Here to Kill Everybody’ by Schneier. Enjoying it so far. --- The world as it is : a memoir of the Obama White House — Rhodes, Benjamin J. Another obvious one based on the title. --- As a side note, join your local library,…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗…earlier books. It's still very compelling, but a little too much Hitler in this one Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane. Poetic landscape history, reminiscent of Sebald. Good stuff. Click here to kill everybody by Bruce Schneier. Scary. Machines like me by Ian McEwan. First McEwan I read for a while but I liked it more than I expected. I thought the AI bits were quite good. The deep history of ourselves :…
on “Ask HN: What Are You Reading?” ↗…degree that I find unfathomable. Imagine fifteen years from now when a update server at Tesla or Microsoft gets hacked do you think the press is going to go back to Bruce Schneier and talk about his book Click Here to Kill Everybody? No. They're going to talk about how shocking this event is just like they did in 2008 during the financial crisis despite the fact that the June 2005 Economist cover had "after the fall" as its cover…
on “Facebook reverses on paid influencers after Bloomberg memes” ↗…catastrophe awaits in its new vulnerabilities and dangers. Forget data theft: cutting-edge digital attackers can now literally crash your car, pacemaker, and home security system, as well as everyone else's. In Click Here to Kill Everybody, Schneier explores the risks and security implications of our new, hyper-connected era, and lays out common-sense policies that will allow us to enjoy the benefits of this omnipotent age without falling…
on “Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-Connected World” ↗I encrypt all of my information before I back it up. It is a risk that I am willing to take. Governments can always decrypt my information. Bruce Schneier, a world-renowned security expert who wrote "Click Here to Kill Everybody", states that he does not recommend storing information in foreign servers, in countries that you are not a citizen of. I suggest taking that advice. Acronis is Swiss-based and has to comply with the…
on “The ransomware surge” ↗…episode in the 'Power corrupts' podcast where Brian Klass discusses the dangers of connecting everything to the Internet. Includes contributions from Bruce Schneier, security mensch and author of the 'Click Here to Kill Everybody' book.
on “Click Here to Kill Everyone” ↗Also - his recent book "Click Here to Kill Everybody" discusses the problem of IoT security in depth (ie. that the lack of it will risk increasingly dire consequences). One of his solutions is regulatory: a new federal agency for consumer cybersecurity.…
on “D-Link Home Routers Open to Remote Takeover Will Remain Unpatched” ↗