On Wednesday, Jan 17, 2012, Symantec, parents or guardian company of Norton, hesitantly declared that online hackers had won in taking the software source code – or plan – for Norton Internet Security, Norton Computer virus Business Version, Norton GoBack, Norton Resources and pcAnywhere.
By Tuesday afternoon, Reuters Science and Technology Editor Jim Finkle had reported that, “Companies typically heavily guard their source code, which is considered the crown jewel of most software makers. The reason for all the secrecy is that companies fear rivals could use the code to figure out the secret sauce behind their technology, and that hackers could use it to plan attacks.”
Let’s consider the ramifications.
FIRST: If you are one of the millions of PC users who bought into the superiority of the Norton brand, you now know that your computer has actually been a poacher’s paradise for hackers for up to six years!
SECOND: If it took six years for Symantec and Norton to discover this breach, that reflects very badly on the quality of their Internet Security products. Yet, if Symantec and Norton have known about the breach for months, a year, or all six years, it reflects very badly on the integrity of those companies, their product claims, and their products’ quality.
Either way, consumers have every right to be appalled!
But THIRD, and most important of all: If hackers know how to infiltrate computers that use Norton Internet Security software, they will CONTINUE to know how to reign down havoc on your PC, your identity, your credit cards, your bank accounts and your life. UNTIL Norton announces the technological advances necessary to save their customers from on-going devastation!
By Tuesday afternoon, Reuters Science and Technology Editor Jim Finkle had reported that, “Companies typically heavily guard their source code, which is considered the crown jewel of most software makers. The reason for all the secrecy is that companies fear rivals could use the code to figure out the secret sauce behind their technology, and that hackers could use it to plan attacks.”
Let’s consider the ramifications.
FIRST: If you are one of the millions of PC users who bought into the superiority of the Norton brand, you now know that your computer has actually been a poacher’s paradise for hackers for up to six years!
SECOND: If it took six years for Symantec and Norton to discover this breach, that reflects very badly on the quality of their Internet Security products. Yet, if Symantec and Norton have known about the breach for months, a year, or all six years, it reflects very badly on the integrity of those companies, their product claims, and their products’ quality.
Either way, consumers have every right to be appalled!
But THIRD, and most important of all: If hackers know how to infiltrate computers that use Norton Internet Security software, they will CONTINUE to know how to reign down havoc on your PC, your identity, your credit cards, your bank accounts and your life. UNTIL Norton announces the technological advances necessary to save their customers from on-going devastation!
