5 ms·

Bruce Schneier joins EFF Board of Directors

754 points by teawithcarl 13y ago

Zikes 13y ago
Schneier sounds like a perfect fit for an organization like the EFF. I hope that with his help they will be able to do even more good.
dllthomas 13y ago
Outstanding!
jdp23 13y ago
He's in good company: In addition to Schneier, EFF's Board of Directors includes John Perry Barlow, Brian Behlendorf, John Buckman, Lorrie Cranor, David Farber, John Gilmore, Brewster Kahle, Pam Samuelson, Brad Templeton, and Jonathan Zittrain. Barlow and Gilmore are the EFF founders, along with Mitch Kapor who hasn't been that active for quite a while.
- snowwrestler 13y ago
  The juxtaposition of Zittrain and Schneier caught my eye because I once saw them on opposite sides of a cybersecurity debate. Zittrain sat with former NSA head Mike McConnell and argued that the threat of cyberwar had not been exaggerated. Schneier and another privacy expert argued that it had been exaggerated. The subtext of the argument was the degree to which the national security apparatus should take the lead on U.S. cybersecurity, vs. domestic agencies like DHS or law enforcement like the FBI. Schneier argued that the "threat" of cyberwar was being pumped up by the defense agencies and industries to help justify greater power and contracts.
tome 13y ago
Wow, a great boon for the EFF. Congratulations!
lifeisstillgood 13y ago
This feels like a move towards the mainstream for EFF. I have a sneaking suspicion this is the beginning of a gradual recognition of orgnaisations like EFF in having a voice in regular politics. Not a big one perhaps, but being at the table.
- mikegioia 13y ago
  Step 2 is setting up a (legitimate) PAC and harness the collective donation power of the internet population.
  - mtgx 13y ago
    How would that be any different than it is today for the "Internet population". If anything they'd use the PAC to get money from large donors (in the millions of dollars).
    - mikegioia 13y ago
      Well, right now the closest thing is Reddit's PAC (http://www.reddit.com/r/rpac http://www.reddit.com/r/rpac) which is primarily focused on net neutrality. By phase 2 I just meant it would be really beneficial to get a formal (EFF sponsored or not) political action committee focused primarily on internet users' rights.
- dfc 13y ago
  I have a lot of respect for Bruce, but I am not sure what this has to do with a "move towards the mainstream." This seems like a move "to ensure that the board has competent security guidance." As far as "regular politics" goes, I hope they stay away from regular politics. I want the EFF solely involved in tech policy issues. Does Schneier have a big political background?
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    Bruce fairly regularly gets articles published in mainstream news sources. I'd say he brings more of that to the table than the EFF has already.
    - dfc 13y ago
      Professor Zittrain has also published editorials in major news sources. The NYT search page returns 7 more resources for Bruce. (397/390).
pvnick 13y ago
>Author and Critic Deepens EFF's Security Expertise as NSA Scandal Intensifies Great news - I've read a couple of really interesting articles that Schneier's put out in recent weeks - but is the scandal actually intensifying? I'm afraid somebody is going to need to fill me in on the current state of the reaction from the public/media at large; I tend to lock myself in a filter bubble of news relevant to my interests.
- DanBC 13y ago
  I get the impression that the scandal is focused on Snowden (and his whereabouts) rather than on mass collection of data. But this is just my opinion.
  - tokenizer 13y ago
    I believe you're right. Almost every article with NSA in the headline that I've seen also has Snowden, or Ecuador, or Russia. So basically, your point about the focus being drawn away from the NSA itself seems correct to me.
    - dllthomas 13y ago
      I think Snowden and the NSA spying he brought to light are independent and very important issues, and we should try hard not to lose sight of either. The latter for reasons that I assume are obvious; the former because, as I've said elsewhere (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5953059 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5953059) whistleblowers are a very important check against abuses, and we need to protect them.
      - dllthomas 13y ago
        Let's get together and turn some talk into action: http://www.meetup.com/Hack-Government-Bay-Area http://www.meetup.com/Hack-Government-Bay-Area
  - pyrocat 13y ago
    That's certainly what the US media is reporting on. Here's a better source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-nsa-files http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-nsa-files
randomdrake 13y ago
Bruce Schneier is an incredible asset to the technology community. I think it's awesome that he's going to be on the board of the EFF. Receiving an EFF Pioneer Award in 2007, his introduction alone describes why he is a perfect candidate. The audio for the speech is, thankfully, available in the Internet archive[1]. The introduction given by one of the EFF technologists is a wonderful description of how important Bruce Schneier's contributions to technology and security really are, outside of his incredible cryptographic skills. "Skilled in his exposition of ideas about security." Bruce's ability to explain, in clear terms, what is or isn't wrong about particular systems is amazing. Whenever there's some sort of technological thing going on in the world, security related, Bruce's blog[2] is often one of the first place I go to. "Made people aware of the context in which security happens. The context in which security measures exist … the political context, the economic context, the psychological context, the social context in which security really happens or often doesn't happen." This is an incredibly valuable and necessary outlook on security in this day and age. The world needs more people who are aware of security, not as just some thing that you do, but really as a mindset and thing that you really have to wrap your head around. "Worked really hard to demystify security. To help people think clearly about what really works and doesn't work." "Emphasis and insistence that security is not an objective thing but is relative to the observer. That it's always from someone's perspective." "You don't just have security as this thing that's out there, but security has a kind of political dimension, that you need to have a prior notion of what kinds of actions are appropriate and what kinds of actions are warranted." I couldn't think of a more appropriate and equipped individual to help the EFF at this time in our history. [1] - http://archive.org/details/Bruce_Schneier_EFF_Pioneer_Awards_2007 http://archive.org/details/Bruce_Schneier_EFF_Pioneer_Awards... [2] - http://www.schneier.com http://www.schneier.com
pyrocat 13y ago
/sc2 Hell, it's about time
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
zdw 13y ago
I'd totally vote for a Lessig/Schneier ticket in 2016. One would clean up the political disaster, the other the "security" nightmare...
- mikegioia 13y ago
  If there was even the possibility that Lessig would run, I would quit my job, dump my savings, and find SOME way to be a part of that.
lsiebert 13y ago
This can only be good news.
mark_l_watson 13y ago
That is good news, and reminded me to go to eff.org and invest some money in our future via a donation. I try to read everything that Bruce Schneier writes on security, politics, and policy.
hobs 13y ago
Bruce is awesome and has been writing amazing stuff for years! He contributed to one of my favorite fictional books, the cryptonomicon with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitaire_%28cipher%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitaire_%28cipher%29 Also whenever he comes up you have to visit: http://www.schneierfacts.com/facts/top http://www.schneierfacts.com/facts/top

754 points by teawithcarl 13y ago

Zikes 13y ago

Schneier sounds like a perfect fit for an organization like the EFF. I hope that with his help they will be able to do even more good.

dllthomas 13y ago

Outstanding!

jdp23 13y ago

He's in good company: In addition to Schneier, EFF's Board of Directors includes John Perry Barlow, Brian Behlendorf, John Buckman, Lorrie Cranor, David Farber, John Gilmore, Brewster Kahle, Pam Samuelson, Brad Templeton, and Jonathan Zittrain. Barlow and Gilmore are the EFF founders, along with Mitch Kapor who hasn't been that active for quite a while.

snowwrestler 13y ago
The juxtaposition of Zittrain and Schneier caught my eye because I once saw them on opposite sides of a cybersecurity debate. Zittrain sat with former NSA head Mike McConnell and argued that the threat of cyberwar had not been exaggerated. Schneier and another privacy expert argued that it had been exaggerated. The subtext of the argument was the degree to which the national security apparatus should take the lead on U.S. cybersecurity, vs. domestic agencies like DHS or law enforcement like the FBI. Schneier argued that the "threat" of cyberwar was being pumped up by the defense agencies and industries to help justify greater power and contracts.

tome 13y ago

Wow, a great boon for the EFF. Congratulations!

lifeisstillgood 13y ago

This feels like a move towards the mainstream for EFF. I have a sneaking suspicion this is the beginning of a gradual recognition of orgnaisations like EFF in having a voice in regular politics. Not a big one perhaps, but being at the table.

mikegioia 13y ago
Step 2 is setting up a (legitimate) PAC and harness the collective donation power of the internet population.
- mtgx 13y ago
  How would that be any different than it is today for the "Internet population". If anything they'd use the PAC to get money from large donors (in the millions of dollars).
  - mikegioia 13y ago
    Well, right now the closest thing is Reddit's PAC (http://www.reddit.com/r/rpac http://www.reddit.com/r/rpac) which is primarily focused on net neutrality. By phase 2 I just meant it would be really beneficial to get a formal (EFF sponsored or not) political action committee focused primarily on internet users' rights.
dfc 13y ago
I have a lot of respect for Bruce, but I am not sure what this has to do with a "move towards the mainstream." This seems like a move "to ensure that the board has competent security guidance." As far as "regular politics" goes, I hope they stay away from regular politics. I want the EFF solely involved in tech policy issues. Does Schneier have a big political background?
- jlgreco 13y ago
  Bruce fairly regularly gets articles published in mainstream news sources. I'd say he brings more of that to the table than the EFF has already.
  - dfc 13y ago
    Professor Zittrain has also published editorials in major news sources. The NYT search page returns 7 more resources for Bruce. (397/390).

pvnick 13y ago

>Author and Critic Deepens EFF's Security Expertise as NSA Scandal Intensifies Great news - I've read a couple of really interesting articles that Schneier's put out in recent weeks - but is the scandal actually intensifying? I'm afraid somebody is going to need to fill me in on the current state of the reaction from the public/media at large; I tend to lock myself in a filter bubble of news relevant to my interests.

DanBC 13y ago
I get the impression that the scandal is focused on Snowden (and his whereabouts) rather than on mass collection of data. But this is just my opinion.
- tokenizer 13y ago
  I believe you're right. Almost every article with NSA in the headline that I've seen also has Snowden, or Ecuador, or Russia. So basically, your point about the focus being drawn away from the NSA itself seems correct to me.
  - dllthomas 13y ago
    I think Snowden and the NSA spying he brought to light are independent and very important issues, and we should try hard not to lose sight of either. The latter for reasons that I assume are obvious; the former because, as I've said elsewhere (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5953059 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5953059) whistleblowers are a very important check against abuses, and we need to protect them.
    - dllthomas 13y ago
      Let's get together and turn some talk into action: http://www.meetup.com/Hack-Government-Bay-Area http://www.meetup.com/Hack-Government-Bay-Area
- pyrocat 13y ago
  That's certainly what the US media is reporting on. Here's a better source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-nsa-files http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-nsa-files

randomdrake 13y ago

Bruce Schneier is an incredible asset to the technology community. I think it's awesome that he's going to be on the board of the EFF. Receiving an EFF Pioneer Award in 2007, his introduction alone describes why he is a perfect candidate. The audio for the speech is, thankfully, available in the Internet archive[1]. The introduction given by one of the EFF technologists is a wonderful description of how important Bruce Schneier's contributions to technology and security really are, outside of his incredible cryptographic skills. "Skilled in his exposition of ideas about security." Bruce's ability to explain, in clear terms, what is or isn't wrong about particular systems is amazing. Whenever there's some sort of technological thing going on in the world, security related, Bruce's blog[2] is often one of the first place I go to. "Made people aware of the context in which security happens. The context in which security measures exist … the political context, the economic context, the psychological context, the social context in which security really happens or often doesn't happen." This is an incredibly valuable and necessary outlook on security in this day and age. The world needs more people who are aware of security, not as just some thing that you do, but really as a mindset and thing that you really have to wrap your head around. "Worked really hard to demystify security. To help people think clearly about what really works and doesn't work." "Emphasis and insistence that security is not an objective thing but is relative to the observer. That it's always from someone's perspective." "You don't just have security as this thing that's out there, but security has a kind of political dimension, that you need to have a prior notion of what kinds of actions are appropriate and what kinds of actions are warranted." I couldn't think of a more appropriate and equipped individual to help the EFF at this time in our history. [1] - http://archive.org/details/Bruce_Schneier_EFF_Pioneer_Awards_2007 http://archive.org/details/Bruce_Schneier_EFF_Pioneer_Awards... [2] - http://www.schneier.com http://www.schneier.com

pyrocat 13y ago

/sc2 Hell, it's about time

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

zdw 13y ago

I'd totally vote for a Lessig/Schneier ticket in 2016. One would clean up the political disaster, the other the "security" nightmare...

mikegioia 13y ago
If there was even the possibility that Lessig would run, I would quit my job, dump my savings, and find SOME way to be a part of that.

lsiebert 13y ago

This can only be good news.

mark_l_watson 13y ago

That is good news, and reminded me to go to eff.org and invest some money in our future via a donation. I try to read everything that Bruce Schneier writes on security, politics, and policy.

hobs 13y ago

Bruce is awesome and has been writing amazing stuff for years! He contributed to one of my favorite fictional books, the cryptonomicon with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitaire_%28cipher%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solitaire_%28cipher%29 Also whenever he comes up you have to visit: http://www.schneierfacts.com/facts/top http://www.schneierfacts.com/facts/top