Clients and Servers by Bruce Schneier

Clients and Servers by Bruce Schneier

Electronic privacy is a controversial topic rising from ever-increasing use of electronic technologies to store data, communicate, and do business. What are we to do about it if we want to protect our privacy in the digital age? The increasing digitalization of everything – email, instant messaging, text messaging, web surfing – raises serious questions about how we use electronic devices and whether we have the right to privacy. Digital Security is the new buzzword in the information security field.

Digital Security is a branch of Information Technology that seeks to enhance the security of personal information by introducing strong encryption or Digital Cryptography to maintain privacy and confidentiality of systems and networks used to transmit confidential data. It also involves the detection, identification, and correction of Digital Security failures, which allow unauthorized access to data. Digital Security is a branch of Information Technology that strives to enhance security of electronic privacy.

Most people think that Digital Security is the same as the Electronic Privacy. However, they are not the same thing. Electronic Privacy is the type of privacy protection you get through a password, security code, or encryption installed on your computer. Digital Security goes further and ensures that your information cannot be misused or erased without your consent. Digital Security is one of the most important technologies in protecting electronic privacy.

Bruce Schneier is an American professional security expert and computer guru. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on information security, computer networking, and security matters. In addition to being a trusted cryptography instructor, he is an author, public speaker, entrepreneur, and privacy and web security consultant. In other words, Schneier is a guy you want to pay attention to. In this article, I will discuss his new book, Digital Security: How to Protect Your Privacy and Fight Off Online Spies.

In Digital Security, Bruce Schneier teaches his students how to utilize the power of digital telephony for the security and privacy of the user. As a matter of fact, in this book, he covers three important topics – Digital Phones, Digital Signature, and Clients and Servers. As mentioned previously, he starts out with Digital Phones. He teaches the students how to use digital phones to encrypt their calls, so that no one else can decipher what is said or what is seen. The beauty of this encryption is that it is impossible to read while the phone is on, but it is possible to read once it is switched off.

Digital Signature is a more complicated subject, but also worthy of some additional discussion. Digital Signatures allows for biometric authentication, meaning that instead of using passwords to gain access to another person’s personal information, the information is actually digitally imprinted on a chip that is readable only to the person to whom the information is intended. Digital signatures are used in a variety of situations, including in digital certificates, electronic payment systems, and even by Internet Service Providers. However, in this book, Bruce Schneier shows us how to use this technology for better privacy practices. In particular, he demonstrates how using Digital Signatures instead of passwords makes it impossible for someone to obtain information about you without your knowledge or permission.

In Clients and Servers, Bruce Schneier describes what he calls the second problem of electronic privacy. In the electronic age, when we communicate with one another, we are passing along our personal information. Unfortunately, while e-mail systems and other forms of electronic communication make it easy to share information, it is also easy to violate that sharing. As an example, one person can send an email to another, which the recipient will then forward to all of his or her friends, family, colleagues, and anyone else who might be interested in what the person is saying. When this happens, the original sender of the email can be tracked and the personal information that he or she shared can be compromised.

In addition, Clients and Servers help users understand what is required by law-based Electronic Privacy Practices (e-privacy policies) as well as what they should expect from their Internet service providers and digital security professionals. This is especially important because many universities-related persons, such as academic libraries, Internet Service Providers, computer security experts, departmental personnel, network managers, business owners, and academic or educational institutions rely on their servers and computers for storing, processing, compiling, distributing, and defending personal data. Without these servers, the quality of academic and educational research would be severely hindered. Bruce Schneier’s eBook thus provides an excellent primer on how electronic privacy practices should work today, especially with the ongoing threat of digital privacy violations. This is a must-read for everyone, especially the college and university-related personnel whose data and privacy must be protected at all times.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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