Killing the Computer to Save It

Dr. Neumann reasons that the only workable and complete solution to the computer security crisis is to study the past half century’s research, cherry-pick the best ideas and then build something new from the bottom up…borrowing from another science, Dr. Neumann notes that biological systems have multiple immune systems – not only are there initial barriers, but a second system consisting of sentinels like T cells has the ability to detect and eliminate intruders and then remember them to provide protection in the future. In contrast, today’s computers and network systems were largely designed with security as an afterthought, if at all.

An interesting piece on Dr. Neumann’s ideas and work on rethinking computer security. Check out the idea for tagged architecture.