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Security Threat Changing, Says Symantec CEO

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the moving-target dept.

narramissic writes "At the Symantec Vision event in Tokyo Thursday, chairman and CEO John Thompson spoke about a shift his company has observed in the threat posed to computer users and companies by hackers. 'While a few years ago many people were much more focused on attacking the machine and attacking the broad-based activities that were going on online, now all of a sudden we've noticed a significant shift in both the type of attack and the motivation of the attack,' he said. 'The attacks that we see today are more targeted and more silent and their objective is to create true financial harm as opposed to visibility for the attackers.'"

2 of 78 comments (clear)

  1. Script Kiddies Growning Up by El+Torico · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I guess now they want money instead of just bragging rights.

    --
    In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.
  2. About time... by dmccarty · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Good. Now maybe people will take these threats seriously. When I started using computers (in the 80's) viruses were a serious threat. People talked about viruses with fear in their voice. These days they're just a nuisance.

    Oooh, that virus sends itself to all your buddies in your address book. How TERRIBLE! Wow, a virus pops up windows on your screen even though you didn't ask for it. How NAUGHTY!

    When I started using PC's, viruses would wipe out your entire drive. They would delete critical files. They would overwrite your boot sector. They would wipout your FAT table. Now THOSE were some viruses!

    Once viruses get back to the level of actual harm, maybe people will stop clicking around willy nilly and will start to invest--on both the corporate and consumer sides--in some real security.

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