Cybersecurity Myths and Misconceptions: Avoiding the Hazards and Pitfalls that Derail Us

Chapter 8

Pitfalls of Analogies and Abstractions

Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.

Edgar Allan Poe

In 2006, former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens said of the Internet: “It’s a series of tubes.” Many people still chuckle at the highly simplified analogy. While Stevens may not have understood or tailored his analogy intentionally, presenting it to someone with little knowledge of technology is perhaps not a bad starting point. Good analogies depend on context and the level of awareness of the recipient.

Cybersecurity is rich with analogies, from keys and locks to Trojan horses. We look for the “needle in the haystack” and “evict malware resident on our systems.” We debate “baked-in” versus “bolted-on” ...