Comment Gruff marketing fluff (Score 5, Insightful) 273
This is just marketing fluff. I've seen this so many times.
He was being interviewed by Wired, and wanted to make gruff noises about the virus issue. He's a COO, so obviously he isn't technical enough to know what he's talking about. The danger, of course, is that because he's a COO, some dimwit doesn't realise that COOs don't know anything, might take him seriously.
If this did ever happen, it would be disastrous for Symantec and the whole antivirus industry. Not because there would be fewer viruses - that would be almost unchanged.
The disaster happens in the sharing of specimens of viruses. In order to code up detection, identification and repair, you have to have one of the things youj're trying to handle. So, where do antivirus companies get specimens?
Two sources. 1) from their customers. This legislation would make it illegal for customers to send speciments to the AV companies using email or whatever. So what you gonna do, copy it onto a floppy disk and put it in the post? Not likely.
2) From the other AV companies. There's been an agreement in place for a great many years between the techies of the AV companies, that specimens get shared, so that when a new thing surfaces, customers aren't forced to buy an AV from any one source, customers still have choice. That specimen sharing would become criminalised.
I've just written to some people to explain that if they really want people like me (and you and you and you) to send them specimens of things that turn up, then they mustn't criminalise that.
He was being interviewed by Wired, and wanted to make gruff noises about the virus issue. He's a COO, so obviously he isn't technical enough to know what he's talking about. The danger, of course, is that because he's a COO, some dimwit doesn't realise that COOs don't know anything, might take him seriously.
If this did ever happen, it would be disastrous for Symantec and the whole antivirus industry. Not because there would be fewer viruses - that would be almost unchanged.
The disaster happens in the sharing of specimens of viruses. In order to code up detection, identification and repair, you have to have one of the things youj're trying to handle. So, where do antivirus companies get specimens?
Two sources. 1) from their customers. This legislation would make it illegal for customers to send speciments to the AV companies using email or whatever. So what you gonna do, copy it onto a floppy disk and put it in the post? Not likely.
2) From the other AV companies. There's been an agreement in place for a great many years between the techies of the AV companies, that specimens get shared, so that when a new thing surfaces, customers aren't forced to buy an AV from any one source, customers still have choice. That specimen sharing would become criminalised.
I've just written to some people to explain that if they really want people like me (and you and you and you) to send them specimens of things that turn up, then they mustn't criminalise that.
