started as a blog as an ode to my lappie Delta, now has become part of my usual weekly activity.




Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Insecure vs. Unsecure (computer stuff)

[Mood] :? (Don't give me that look.)

I told an officemate of mine a story on how one of our customers emailed one of support group regarding how she did not continue her membership payment because she thought the system was 'insecure'. My officemate gave me a look like she was saying, "insecure? like duh, are you stupid?", which prompted me to just say, "unsecure!". Like shit, I'm not wrong! there isn't even an entry for 'unsecure' in the Merriam-Webster dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/unsecure). There is for 'unsecureD' but not for 'unsecure'. I stumbled across this article (http://seclists.org/dailydave/2005/q3/0253.html) where another individual (not just me) is dumbfounded about this prefix problem.

So guys, get your thoughts straight about say, 'insecure wireless networks'. No, they're not crying about their narrow bandwidth nor how their neighboring networks use apple airports.




Though Chain: Off to bed. Seriously

5 Comments:

Anonymous Vorpaladin said...

Insecure is correct, at least according to the US Department of Defense. Search the following document for "insecure" and "unsecure". You won't find a single use of the word "unsecure".

http://iase.disa.mil/stigs/checklist/application_security_checklist_v2r1-5.pdf

12:42 AM

 
Blogger loose-spark said...

"Unsecure" is a verb ("To unsecure...").

"Insecure" is an adjective.

Problem solved, simple! :-)

3:12 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/insecure
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Unsecure

Seriously. You'd think the US DoD has a bunch of anxious computers needing a bit of a confidence boost.

3:52 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So they're synonymous, according to that dictionary, therefore "insecure" is perfectly appropriate to describe an unsecured computer, but "unsecure" is still more commonly used as a verb than an adjective.

10:48 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dictionaries are always changing, new words and definitions being added etc.

I like insecure, because it's essentially the opposite of secure, but there is nothing incorrect about using terms like unsecure, unsecured and non-secure.

7:53 AM

 

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