Security Basics mailing list archives

Re: Concepts: Security and Obscurity


From: Pranay Kanwar <warl0ck () metaeye org>
Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:25:29 +0530

Hi Daniel,

Nice write up,but you are missing the crux of the matter obscurity is
mostly about secrecy and according to kerchoff's princliple and Mr.
Bruce Schneier. secrecy or obscurity induces brittleness in the system.
I'll replay the kerchoff's principle here from the wikipedia

"Kerckhoffs' principle applies beyond codes and ciphers to security
systems in general: every secret creates a potential failure point.
Secrecy, in other words, is a prime cause of brittleness—and therefore
something likely to make a system prone to catastrophic collapse.
Conversely, openness provides ductility."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerchoffs_law

Regards

warl0ck // MSG
http://www.metaeye.org


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