Difficult Truths for our Harsh Times — Have security & privacy research, and the students we have trained, actually made the world a better place?

Not everyone will miss Ross Anderson. Ross was not afraid to speak truths that made people uncomfortable. His ideas and arguments threatened the beliefs, status, power, ego, and bank balances of others — often those with power. His writings and talks undermined proponents of hardware attestation, chip-and-pin authentication, and surveillance, to name just a few. Many of those threatened by what…