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Does Schuyler Towne read hacker news? He made the point in one amazing talk (that included references to centaurs and American exceptionalism and possibly anci
by brownbat 7y ago
Does Schuyler Towne read hacker news?
He made the point in one amazing talk (that included references to centaurs and American exceptionalism and possibly ancient sumerian) that we've long used locks not for security, but as a social symbol of security.
Anyone can just put a cinder block through your window and steal your car. The barrier isn't technological, it's social. Locks are a great defense against the kid or confused person who is wandering around and forgets that we have social mores against making off with thousands of dollars of other people's property on a whim. They are not designed to defend against dedicated thieves.
We defend against dedicated theives by hiring detectives and prosecutors and making it in general more hazardous as a profession than other professions that one might take up. We defend against theft by just generally making it more lucrative to apply the same amount of ingenuity and dedication to other endeavors, like giving amazing talks about perfect security and American centaurs.
I'm probably butchering or overextending his point though, would love for the man himself to weigh in.
- kjaftaedi 7y agoThe important point these days is one of responsibility. Whether or not these locks are made to be appropriately 'secure' is the difference between the owner and the manufacturer being liable for the result of criminal action.
- ianai 7y agoIndeed, most locks are societal items instead of actually being difficult to defeat. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to over engineer one part of a system that an OoB attack can easily defeat unless that other attack vector is much more often attacked. I doubt that’s the case here. People should avoid locations where their cars are likely targets.