Adversary Based Design

Basics

• A Method of Review wherein the Product/Policy Proposal is approached via a Reviewing Party acting as the "Adversary"
• The Adversary's goal is to break the device/system
• For instance if the product being tested was a paper shredder, they would figure out how to make it fail, as well as ways to injure oneself/cause damage (within reason) using the device
• If it were a Video Game, they would do everything they could do to "Break the Game"
• If it were a Tax code, they would figure out every loophole they could use to their advantage
• An Currently Existing Example would be Penetration Testing for (Cyber-) Security Applications
  • This entails a group hiring companies/individuals who specialize in "pen-testing" to essentially hack their system, so they can then repair any exposed bugs / vulnerabilities
  • A Related concept is "White Hat Hacking"

Internal Links

• Evidence Based Charity / Evidence Based Philanthropy
• Peer Review