[ISN] Symantec CEO Warns of Drop in Internet Use

From: InfoSec News (isn@private)
Date: Wed Nov 19 2003 - 22:09:52 PST

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    http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1390273,00.asp
    
    November 19, 2003
    By Dennis Fisher  
    
    LAS VEGAS - If software vendors and security companies don't get their
    act together and start producing better products, users will begin
    dropping off the Internet out of sheer frustration, predicted John
    Thompson, chairman and CEO of Symantec Corp., in his keynote speech at
    Comdex here Wednesday.
    
    Thompson challenged vendors to begin turning out more secure software 
    solutions and to take the initiative in trying to protect customers 
    from attackers and themselves. If that doesn't come to pass, then 
    Internet users—especially less savvy consumers—will reduce the amount 
    of time they spend on the Internet and only use it when they 
    absolutely need to. 
    
    "There may come a point where users see technology as more of a 
    liability than an asset," Thompson said. "They'll just use the Web 
    when they have to." 
    
    In a speech that touched lightly on a wide range of topics but didn't 
    delve deeply into any, Thompson saved most of his vigor for an attack 
    on the way that lawmakers and technology companies are handling the 
    spam problem. He was sharply critical of recent anti-spam legislation 
    efforts on both the federal and state level and said that government 
    regulation is not the right answer to the problem. 
    
    "I predict that the spam legislation will be unmanageable and cause 
    confusion among consumers," Thompson said. "Government regulation is 
    not the answer. It will stifle innovation. You need to ask yourselves 
    why some in our industry would advocate this." 
    
    Thompson expanded on this theme after his speech, saying that spam is 
    a unique animal, but one that can be tamed through some fairly simple 
    changes in the technology and economics surrounding mass mailing. 
    Drawing a parallel between e-mail and postal mail, Thompson said the 
    reason that consumers aren't buried under a mountain of junk letters 
    is that companies have to pay to send postal mail. He suggested that a 
    similar model would help throttle the overwhelming levels of spam 
    coursing through the Internet. 
    
    "There is no cost [to send spam]; therefore, people send all kinds of 
    junk. Service providers can fix this by changing the economics of the 
    situation," he said. "Don't rely on legislative initiatives. A simple 
    technology solution solves this problem. You know what's coming 
    through your network. If someone is sending 100,000 e-mails, block 
    them. I don't understand why you need to appeal to the government." 
    
    Thompson also was dismissive of Computer Associates International 
    Inc.'s announcement that it will give users free copies of its 
    anti-virus software as part of Microsoft Corp.'s Protect Your PC 
    campaign. 
    
    "We've seen desperate acts by desperate people before," Thompson said. 
    "If you don't have much of a share, it doesn't hurt you to give it 
    away. We don't believe that securing the infrastructure is 
    philanthropic. We'd like to get a return. But we're always ready to 
    compete." 
    
    
    
    
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