Bruce Schneier Joins Co3 To Develop Incident Response Software

Privacy expert, writer and BT’s former chief security technology officer Bruce Schneier has joined incident response management start-up Co3 Systems as its CTO.

“Bruce has always been a real visionary and major agent of change in the security market,” said John Bruce, CEO at Co3. “I shared his vision for effective security at Counterpane more than a decade ago and we’ve always been aligned in the way that we view the world and threats to its stability. The potential that we have here at Co3 to make a real difference drew us back together.”

Responsive security

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Co3 specialises in correct response to security incidents and privacy breaches. It offers two Software-as-a-Service products: the first, Co3 Privacy Module, provides an automated way to deal with information leaks. The second, Co3 Security Module, allows automated, single-pane incident management in an isolated environment for things like DDoS attacks or malware infections.

“The idea is that the system generates your incident response plan on installation, and when something happens, automatically executes it. It collects information about the incident, assigns and tracks tasks, and logs everything you do,” explains Schneier on his blog.

“It links you with information you might need, companies you might want to talk to, and regulations you might be required to comply with. And it logs everything, so you can demonstrate that you followed your response plan and thus the law — or see how and where you fell short.”

Schneier spent seven years as the CTO at Counterpane Security, before joining BT for another seven years. Between his job responsibilities, he has developed several cryptographic algorithms, written over a dozen books and made regular contributions to The Guardian and Wired.

He is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, a program fellow at the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and an advisory board member of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre.

Schneier’s law, a term coined by Cory Doctorow, describes the belief that any person can invent a security system so clever that he or she can’t imagine a way of breaking it.

“I have long said that security is a combination of protection, detection and response,” adds Schneier. “And while there are service companies that assist in incident response, there is an urgent need for incident response products and tools. Co3 has done an impressive job building an incident response platform that informs and automates the process. I am looking forward to shaping the future of this next wave of the security industry.”

Schneider left BT amid accusations that the telecoms giant cooperated with the UK and US secret services. He was never implicated in these claims, and BT debunked the rumours as “conspiracy theories”.

We’ll finish this post with a quote from Bruce Schneier Facts: “Most people use passwords. Some people use passphrases. Bruce Schneier uses an epic passpoem, detailing the life and works of seven mythical Norse heroes.”

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