Why Security Isn't A Solo Act
High technology's biggest bet these days is on "cloud computing," namely massive data centers running databases and application software across networks for businesses, consumers and some combination of the two. The idea is that the shared systems can scale up savings, transactions and innovation faster than ever.
Less talked about, however, is the prospect of scaled-up security risks. Already malicious hackers routinely make their way into individual servers and systems, scoring financial information or dropping company-crippling malware. Harnessing their own ad-hoc super networks of "enslaved" personal computers attached to the Internet, they spam, steal and spoof honest businesses, costing them billions annually, with no sign of letting up.
How can this be fixed? According to one of the computer security software industry's most senior executives, the answer is to destroy security as a stand-alone business.
