Open Systems versus Closed Systems view of security
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The open systems view of security holds that one must assume adversaries understand how their systems work and should therefore not delude themselves by adhering to secrecy. This philosophy was born in the 19th century from the work of Auguste Kerckhoffs .
The closed system philosophy argues that hiding the system is critical to thwarting attacks. Recent research argues that neither approach is inherently better from the standpoint of securing a system, but they do have different implications for how companies will behave and attempt to protect their competitive advantages. For example, if you cannot be sure of secrecy, you would have to use legal agreements and other explicit protections.