Learning from the past

Renaud, Karen (2021) Learning from the past. Network Security, 2021 (3). ISSN 1353-4858 (https://doi.org/10.1016/S1353-4858(21)00031-3)

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Abstract

I've been reading an excellent book by Eleanor Herman, titled "The Royal Art of Poison". Now, you may be wondering why on earth I am telling you this, when this is a column about cyber security. I’ll explain. The author tells a number of stories about the use of poison in the middle ages, and the precautions wealthy people and royalty would take so that they would not be poisoned. They had tasters who would eat from their plates and others who would imbibe wine from their goblets. Eleanor Herman tells about people paying a fortune for unicorn horns, which could apparently neutralise poison. Some Kings thought they could be poisoned by the clothing they wore, or the seats of their commodes. If they did fall ill, it seems that the first thought was that they had been poisoned. Pity the poor chefs who worked in royal households who were tortured and executed for attempting to poison their masters when they were actually suffering from gastritis, malaria or a swollen prostate. It must have been a fearful existence for everyone.

ORCID iDs

Renaud, Karen ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7187-6531;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)