[18100] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: solving the wrong problem
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Denker)
Sat Aug 6 16:48:54 2005
X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2005 16:27:51 -0400
From: John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>
To: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Cc: cryptography@metzdowd.com
In-Reply-To: <87oe8audgy.fsf@snark.piermont.com>
Perry E. Metzger wrote:
> We need a term for this sort of thing -- the steel tamper
> resistant lock added to the tissue paper door on the wrong vault
> entirely, at great expense, by a brilliant mind that does not
> understand the underlying threat model at all.
>
> Anyone have a good phrase in mind that has the right sort of flavor
> for describing this sort of thing?
In a similar context, Whit Diffie once put up a nice
graphic: A cozy little home protected by a picket fence.
he fence consisted of a single picket that was a mile
high ... while the rest of the perimeter went totally
unprotected.
So, unless/until somebody comes up with a better metaphor,
I'd vote for "one-picket fence".
I recognize that this metaphor is not sufficiently
pejorative, because a single picket is at least
arguably a step in the right direction, potentially
a small part of a real solution.
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