How Security Can Be Improved By Being A Little Bit Slower

I’m a slow man, and now I’ve learned I might be slightly safer than those who aren’t…

Image by Gerd Altmann

Cryptography 101

I am new to and thus ignorant about cryptography. Ignorance, though, can be a cause for either indifference or awe, and I tend to choose the latter. Some of the most basic forms of online security are fascinating to me: not just the techniques but the fact that someone — a human, allegedly — came up with them.

When we think of technology, and even more so information technology, we think of speed. Indeed, everything is fast, far too fast for us to make sense of most of the time. Terabytes of data fly all over the place without us noticing or understanding what does what, never mind how. To a certain level, we are all aware of and more or less concerned about data privacy, about online security. We don’t know much about it, but enough to realise it is important to seek protection. On the one hand, it seems counterintuitive that some of that protection might come from slowness. On the other, it seems obvious.

Football Wisdom

Bear with me as I take us from the computer to the football pitch. Legendary player and coach Johan Cruyff was well known for his simplistic yet genius approach to the…