This is not the internet the world needs, or the internet its creators envisioned. We need to take it back. And by we, I mean the engineering community.
Interpretation
The current state of the internet does not align with its original vision and requires the engineering community to reclaim it.
Bruce Schneier's quote reflects a deep concern about the evolution of the internet, which has diverged from the ideals of innovation, openness, and accessibility that its creators originally sought. He emphasizes the responsibility of the engineering community to reshape the internet in a way that serves society's needs rather than the interests of a few, calling for a collective effort to reclaim its intended purpose as a tool for the greater good.
In practice
During a tech conference to highlight the ethical use of technology.
History has taught us: never underestimate the amount of money, time, and effort someone will expend to thwart a security system. It's always better to assume the worst. Assume your adversaries are better than they are. Assume science and technology will soon be able to do things they cannot yet. Give yourself a margin for error. Give yourself more security than you need today. When the unexpected happens, you'll be glad you did.
The whole notion of passwords is based on an oxymoron. The idea is to have a random string that is easy to remember. Unfortunately, if it's easy to remember, it's something nonrandom like 'Susan.' And if it's random, like 'r7U2*Qnp,' then it's not easy to remember.
It is poor civic hygiene to install technologies that could someday facilitate a police state.
You can't defend. You can't prevent. The only thing you can do is detect and respond.
Digital files cannot be made uncopyable, any more than water can be made not wet.
I am regularly asked what the average Internet user can do to ensure his security. My first answer is usually 'Nothing; you're screwed'.
Because of the nature of Moore's law, anything that an extremely clever graphics programmer can do at one point can be replicated by a merely competent programmer some number of years later.
We want to build technology that everybody loves using, and that affects everyone. We want to create beautiful, intuitive services and technologies that are so incredibly useful that people use them twice a day. Like they use a toothbrush. There aren't that many things people use twice a day.
You have to combine both things: invention and innovation focus, plus the company that can commercialize things and get them to people.
Technology will move faster than governments, so don't legislate before you understand the consequences.
I believe in the future of AI changing the world. The question is, who is changing AI? It is really important to bring diverse groups of students and future leaders into the development of AI.
I don't have any authority over Linux other than this notion that I know what I'm doing.
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