Nothing to fear but fear itself

As the race against internet crime continues, Andrew Philpott warns against spreading panic

I sometimes feel that we, as a security company, are in an arms race against internet crime. Spyware and phishing are the latest big guns, but who knows what weapons of mass destruction are in some virtual desert waiting to be unleashed?

However, just as we had to live with a constant background threat in the days of the Cold War, so we have to learn to live with it now.

Remember when we thought spam would proliferate to cause business meltdown? But when we recently asked IT managers what they worried about most, typical comments included: “Phishing activities seem to be picking up.” Whereas they thought, “spam is understood and there are solutions in place to control it”.

We can’t continue to sell security appliances through giving constant apocalyptic warnings. Of course, these threats are real, and sometimes you have to use shock tactics.

But, with the right, uncompromising products, threats can be held at bay. Sound common sense can sell just as much as – if not more than – fear. After all, it is sensible to make sure your critical assets are protected.

For example, spyware is a serious drain on resources. It can slow workstations and drain bandwidth, forcing staff to spend time fixing infected systems. Apparently, 20 per cent of Dell support calls are about spyware.

Catastrophe comes in different categories. Losing half a day because of a virus in the system may not be a national crisis, but for a small business it’s a real drama. And to the customer this will seem far more real than alarmist predictions of doom.

Sold this way, security appliances avoid becoming what amounts to a fashion item. More mature security companies that have been around 20 years or more have seen it all – from worms to pharming.

So, by all means educate customers to be alert and on guard and warn them of all the threats. But translate it to a day-to-day level too, so they can see how it affects their business directly. Ironically, we tend to become immune to continuous scare stories.

Until we have a secure internet, security is more than a fad or a science fiction fantasy: it is something that we have to have, like seat belts or a smoke detector. So don’t overplay the fear. Business needs to see security as a longer-term investment. Perhaps then they will really take it seriously.