PC Data Security Blog

The Illusion of Security by M.T. Thrett

Best I can tell, IT data security expenditures buy compliance, piece-of-mind and sometimes, little else.  But are they buying real, bona fide security? Not really. Hook these buyers to a lie detector and I’ll bet you find that you’d find that most know this to be true. We know for example that antivirus services are always behind the eight ball. The leading antivirus tools are ineffective at combating the latest and greatest viruses.

            IT also throws money into encryption. Don’t misunderstand – encryption is necessary but it alone is not true security. After authentication, encryption is ineffective. IT often reasons it prudent to mandate a policy of strong passwords as a first-level barrier to a breach. This policy is parallel to Superman’s kryptonite. Users will write down these complex passwords for fear of forgetting them.

            Security products and services offer piece-of-mind but shouldn’t kid themselves – it is not usually true security. As long as computers are operated by humans (even honest ones) this is our greatest security threat. No antivirus or encryption software will eliminate that reality.

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