"We're really good at defending against yesterday's threats."

I just posted a "5 Questions" exchange with Bruce Sterling, but those of you who like the technical details as much as the literary stuff might also be interested in his conversation with security expert Bruce Schneier, who says early in:

When it comes to security countermeasures, people always ask me: "Is this effective?" That's the wrong question; the right question would be "Is this worth it?" When it comes to most anti-terrorist security installed since 9/11, the answer is clearly NO. The "security" we're getting just isn't worth the cost: in money, liberties, or convenience. Security is always a balance of trade-offs. And as security consumers, too often we're getting a raw deal.