"Terrorists won't defeat us (but watch where you sit...)"
Category: War on Terror...
Posted Friday, March 31, 2006 at 11:18 AM [GMT-6]

Brave talk of refusing to let the fear of terrorism affect daily living seems to be so much whistling in the graveyard when offset by a British intelligence service report that advises businesses to move away from using cubicles or other "open space" office configurations because they put employees at higher risk in the event of bombings.

The report from the MI5 Security Service will no doubt be hailed by cubicle drones everywhere longing for the prestige of a private office, but they probably won't be heartened by the reasoning: "If you are converting your building to open-plan accommodation, remember that the removal of internal walls reduces protection against blast and fragments," the [MI5] leaflet says.

No one would argue against the need for reasonable caution and precaution in the risky world we now inhabit. But when terrorists begin to affect even our private sector architecture, it's also hard to argue that they haven't achieved at least a partial victory.

Link via Bruce Schneier's Schneier on Security blog.