Laws of Security

Full Title and Meme

Ten Immutable Laws Of Security

Ten Immutable Laws Of Security (Version 2.0) is a recent version, now rebranded as "Microsoft laws" with no reference to Michael Howard at all. Their are other references to different Microsoft personnel, like Scott Culp, as authors to various versions. The following list is from version 2.0.

1. If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not solely your computer anymore.

   If a bad guy can alter the operating system on your computer, it's not your computer anymore.

   If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore.

   If you allow a bad guy to run active content in your website, it's not your website any more.

   Weak passwords trump strong security.

   A computer is only as secure as the administrator is trustworthy.

   Encrypted data is only as secure as its decryption key.

   An out-of-date antimalware scanner is only marginally better than no scanner at all.

   Absolute anonymity isn't practically achievable, online or offline.

   Technology is not a panacea.