Bruce Schneier
(1963 -
Cryptographer, network security guru, and food writer, Bruce Schneier grew up in New York in the sixties. His first introduction to computers was a punch-tape terminal which he learnt to program in BASIC. Although he says he enjoyed school, the opening screening of Star Wars was too much to miss out on.
"My idea of teenage rebellion was cutting out early to see the first showing of Star Wars," Schneier says.
He studied a Bachelor of Science in Physics at the University of Rochester, and managed to develop a taste for non-techie subjects such as philosophy. In 1985 he went on to complete a Masters of Computer Science while working with the US Department of Defence. While he remains fairly tight-lipped about his experiences in the military, Schneier emerged as a pre-eminent figure in the realm of cryptography.
In the early nineties he became embroiled in what came to be known as the Cryptowars, which saw a motley crew of techies and political activists pitted against the US government, in an attempt to protect the rights of US citizens to use strong encryption.
Practicing as well as preaching, Schneier testified against the proposed restrictions, disseminated a monthly newsletter called Crypto-Gram, and published what has become a seminal text covering cryptology; Applied Cryptography.
A prolific author, Schneier continued to write books and columns throughout the nineties, with tips and guides to protecting everything from the a MacIntosh to an E-mail account. He also provides online tips to aspiring cryptographers.
In 1999 he teamed up with Tom Rowley to establish managed security services company Counterpane Internet Security, where he has taken on the role of chief technology officer.
He recently spoke with ZDNet Australia about technology, and his own motivation.
Q: Which were the most important technological innovations of the last century?
Antibiotics. The communications network.
Which networking technologies have been the most important in the history of computing?
Interesting question. Honestly, I don't think it matters WHICH networking technologies, only that there are some.
Who initially sparked your interest in computing, or inspired you in some way during your career?
Honestly, I can't think of anyone in particular. I was drawn to computers because I was fascinated with numbers and mathematics, and computers gave me a new way to manipulate numbers.
I think it is east to guess that the median age of your voters was below 30, and that those who wrote the salutory articles were slightly lacking in experience or balance. The extremely heavy leaning towards Unix and Linux does make the listing a little biased.
I suggest you read "Fire in the Valley" (both editions: Freiberger and Swaine, 1984 and 2000) for a different viewpoint on Bill Gates than he provides in his semi-fictional hagiography. If you read between the lines it becomes apparent the Microsoft achieved its eminence by inventing only one thing: the first software anti-piracy crusade, when Gates objected to people stealing the BASIC he stole from his time working as a hacker at DEC.
I am sorry, but my age must be showing. I can't see how any Web-based artcile doesn't put Douglas C. Engelbart at the head of the PC revolution. It is the obvious place for the man who invented the VDU, windowing, the mouse, and hypertext.
I feel despair that in the same week that I read two articles by prominent authors decrying the fact that because the young and inexperienced see something published on the Internet, they consider it true, that this piece of distortion is published on, guess what, the Internet.