BGP and Firewalls...

Dobbins, Roland rdobbins at arbor.net
Thu Dec 8 03:43:34 UTC 2011


On Dec 8, 2011, at 1:36 AM, Leo Bicknell wrote:

> I don't think you're looking at defense in depth in the right way,

Actually, it sometimes seems as if nobody in the industry understands what 'defense in depth' really means, heh.

'Defense in depth' is a military term of art which equates to 'trading space for time in order to facilitate attrition of enemy forces'.  It does not have any real relevance to infosec/opsec; unfortunately, its original meaning has been corrupted and so it is widely (and incorrectly) used in place of the more appropriate 'combined arms approach' or 'jointness' or 'mutual support' or 'layered defense' metaphors.  Hannibal's tactics at Cannae are generally cited as the canonical (pardon the pun) example of actual military defense in depth.

;>

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Roland Dobbins <rdobbins at arbor.net> // <http://www.arbornetworks.com>

		The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

			  -- Oscar Wilde





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