Bruce Schneier revisits his 2010 essay on cryptography's limitations in securing modern networks, written for Dark Reading's 20th anniversary. He traces his long-held argument — dating to 2000 — that cryptography, while mathematically powerful and favoring defenders, is insufficient for real-world security because it must operate within complex, buggy software and human systems. He contrasts cryptography's mathematical stability with the fast-moving arms race of computer security. Looking ahead, Schneier highlights AI as the next major shift in cybersecurity: AI can already find vulnerabilities and write exploits at superhuman levels, and its ability to write patches may follow, with unclear implications for who gains the upper hand in what he calls the era of 'instant software.'
