Who said "Security is inversely proportional to convenience"?

June 27, 2020 3:25 PM

Who said "Security is inversely proportional to convenience"? I first heard it in the early 1990s, but it easily could be centuries old. Quote sites aren't helping out.
posted by Tell Me No Lies to Writing & Language (3 answers total)

You can see it in this Unix Handbook from 1989 which was the earliest quotation I found for it in a computer context.
posted by jessamyn at 4:07 PM on June 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

I don't have a definitive source, but if Bruce Schneier hasn't used that quote I'd be surprised
posted by TimHare at 6:30 PM on June 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

In the CU Engineering department, it was attributed to Professor Evi Nemeth, who is one of the authors of the Unix Handbook.
posted by nickggully at 7:09 PM on June 27, 2020 [4 favorites]