Liability and Computer Security - Nine Principles

Published: Feb 27, 2000
Updated: Feb 27, 2000
Section: Network Security Library :: Law
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The conventional wisdom is that security priorities should be set by risk analysis. However, reality is subtly different: many computer security systems are at least as much about shedding liability as about minimizing risk. Banks use computer security mechanisms to transfer liability to their customers; companies use them to transfer liability to their insurers, or (via the public prosecutor) to the taxpayer; and they are also used to shift the blame to other departments ("we did everything that GCHQ/the internal auditors told us to"). We derive nine principles which might help designers avoid the most common pitfalls.

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