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We need some sort of Big-O notation for security.

It seems like the argument against security through obscurity is similar to the argument that T(n) = 10,000n^2 is equivalent to T(n) = 10n^2, as both are O(n^2) even though they have vastly different coefficients.

At the end of the day, they have the same Big-O notation, but one of them is a thousand times better than the other.

Sometimes the coefficients matter. Obscurity in security is like the 'lost' coefficient in Big-O notation: it's not the first thing you should focus on, but it can really help.




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