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The Tao of Security: Simplicity

Effective security is best achieved through multiple layers of simple-to-understand-and-implement policies. Simplicity is the key. The more complex a security gateway's rules are, the more likely you are to misconfigure it.

Quoting Deng Ming-Dao from "Farmer, Day 244" of his book 365 Tao:

Those of us who live in the cities would be hard-pressed to equal the farmer in simplicity. Simplicity, after all, is what Tao most celebrates. Who needs to know all the digits of pi? Who needs to engineer a new monetary policy? Who needs to strive for political office? None of these things is necessary to be a human being. Give up unnecessary things.

With apologies to Mr. Ming-Dao, this could easily be converted to an IT/Security mantra:

Those of us who live in the IT departments would be hard-pressed to equal the user in simplicity. Simplicity, after all, is what Tao most celebrates. Who needs to know all the services users want to access? Who needs to engineer a new security policy? Who needs to strive for management office? None of these things is necessary to be secure. Give up unnecessary services.

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Last Update: November 17, 2020