Schneier on Security

Becoming a fellow isn’t your first interaction with the Berkman Center—you spoke here in April about “IT, Security, and Power” with Jonathan Zittrain. In light of that talk and the research you intend to conduct exploring the intersection of security, technology, and people, can you tell us more about the direction your research is going in, any challenges you currently face, and what you will be focusing on as a Berkman fellow?

I’ve been thinking about several things, all centered around power in the information age. I summarized them here before my Spring Berkman visit, and perhaps it’s better to send readers there than to rewrite what I wrote then. Since then, of course, I have been thinking and writing about the Snowden documents and ubiquitous Internet surveillance. My hope is that all of this turns into a book, but it’s too early for me to announce that definitively. I only know that I need something to focus my year at Berkman; otherwise, it will be over in a flurry and I won’t have anything tangible to show for it…