“For ’tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard; and ’t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon."
- Prince Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Hamlet act III scene 1.
This passage came to mind twice yesterday:
I used Hamlet rather than our old friends Alice and Bob whilst reviewing a process vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack. For those that aren’t familiar with the tale, it’s worth reading as storytelling helps us bring risks and impact to life (or in this case, Rosencrantz & Guilderstern’s death).
It also came up in a discussion on how combining anonymised and/or pseudonymised datasets introduces re-identification risk and the opportunity for harm and liability, quite literally where a company can be brought down by unchecked schemes.
As a bonus Shakespeare moment, I had a little chuckle at a Merchant of Venice quote near the Globe Theatre that will surely resonate with and uplift a couple of my peers when they’re having a frustrating day: “Let none presume to wear an undeserved dignity”
