Book Review: The Myth of Homeland Security

This book is engaging and interesting from beginning to end. Marcus Ranum does not provide answers or solutions per se, but the issues he points out are explained intelligently and you will find that maybe there is more to be concerned about than there is to be OK with about national security in the United States. If nothing else comes of this book, hopefully it will just help people to question and think critically about national security issues and solutions.

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Cons

Homeland Security is a hot topic. Even if it wasn't, the "wag the dog" mentality of the United States government would make it so. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have defined and driven almost all aspects public policy and government spending since then. In a knee-jerk reaction to the events, many laws and initiatives were passed ostensibly to protect our country from any similar attacks in the future.

Marcus Ranum's book- The Myth of Homeland Security- illustrates how these knee-jerk reactions fall short of the goal. The Homeland Security Act and the PATRIOT Act in particular seem to do as much or more to limit and strip the individual freedoms of law abiding U.S. citizens as they do to protect the country or deter terrorism.

Much of the book is almost more of a rant about the current state of government in the United States, but even the ranting is engaging to read and Ranum backs his opinions up with intelligent, well-written and sometimes humorous points.

Ranum does offer some solutions, while also stressing that not everything is even fixable. Much of security is illusion. It is smoke and mirrors to give the sense of security when in reality a determined attacker could easily bypass the security measures and attack successfully.

I recommend this book for everyone if for no other reason than to ensure that the American public continue to think critically and question our elected officials and not simply fall for the illusion of security.