KISS, an acronym for "Keep it simple, stupid!", is a design principle first noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960.First seen partly in American English by at least 1938, the KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore, simplicity should be a key goal in design, and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. The phrase has been associated with aircraft engineer Kelly Johnson. The term "KISS principle" was in popular use by 1970.Variations on the phrase (usually as some euphemism for the more churlish "stupid") include "keep it super simple", "keep it simple, silly", "keep it short and simple", "keep it short and sweet", "keep it simple and straightforward", "keep it small and simple", "keep it simple, soldier", "keep it simple, sailor", "keep it simple, sweetie" ,"keep it stupidly simple", or "keep it sweet and simple".
- Security design simplicity – complicated security systems are more vulnerable, so it’s key to keep security designs simple, straightforward, easily and effectively usable by everyone to avoid errors and identify cyber security threats; indeed, applying the K.I.S.S. principle encourages user-friendly cyber security practices and reduces the odds of breaches actually occurring(less functionality more secure & more functionality less secure)
- Attack space reduction – simplifying cyber security systems reduces the potential vulnerabilities by cutting down unnecessary elements that might be weaknesses, thus limiting the possibilities to attack and making it harder for cyber criminals to exploit resources and get access to private data and client data.
- Efficient resource allocation – simple cyber security systems require fewer resources in terms of hardware and software infrastructure, thus this efficiency factor contributes to improve the effectiveness of performances and allocation of resources specifically for security purposes.
- Manageability – complex cyber security systems are harder to maintain, update, and adapt to evolving cyber threats, that’s why to keep information security simple can ensure that security measures remain effective for users, updating to new emerging vulnerabilities and attacks and developing simple solutions.
- System architecture – the K.I.S.S. principle promotes the use of simple, usable and straightforward security mechanisms in the making of cyber security systems architectures and logics; this applies especially introducing AI to cyber security
- Access control – designing access control mechanisms, models and policies is key for security systems to perform as expected, this includes clear information about user roles, permissions and authentication methods which must be easy to manage to minimize potential risks;
- Secure coding practices – the development phase of cyber security systems is extremely delicate and developers should consider the application of secure coding practices as the way to make the whole system easier to review and maintain and reduce unnecessary complexity;
- Configuration management – simplifying cyber security configurations makes it easier to review and validate the whole security system and reduces potential settings errors, which are often exploited by cyber attackers as breakthrough points;
- User education and awareness – simple cyber security solutions must pair with simple security guidelines, policies and training materials, this helps users to understand and use cyber security best practices, reducing overall risks and chances for cyber criminals to attack devices and networks
- Responsiveness – it’s not always possible to prevent cyber security breaches, but it’s essential to prepare simple and well-defined incident response plans setting up clear procedures aiming to mitigate the impact of the attack.
Keep it Simple is always applicable to any scenario . personally i follow the Keep it simple principle in my life especially in the conversion with friends and family.
