Friday, October 08, 2004
Why are things so bad?
Why are some of the brightest programmers working at the richest companies producing programs that can't last 20 minutes exposed to Internet traffic?
Part of the answer is in an old Amway story. Supposedly someone asked the founder why he did something as unprestigious as selling soap. He said "People buy soap". Why did Detroit spend decades selling cars without seat belts? Because people bought cars without seat belts. Why do companies sell insecure software? Because people buy insecure software.
Today, car buyers want safety features and pay for them. Car companies respond by offering more safety features than the law requires. When software companies watch customers walk away over security issues, that day the software companies will begin shipping more secure products.
How do you buy software? Do you look for the equivalent of crumple zones and airbags, or do you look for the equivalent of tail fins?
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Part of the answer is in an old Amway story. Supposedly someone asked the founder why he did something as unprestigious as selling soap. He said "People buy soap". Why did Detroit spend decades selling cars without seat belts? Because people bought cars without seat belts. Why do companies sell insecure software? Because people buy insecure software.
Today, car buyers want safety features and pay for them. Car companies respond by offering more safety features than the law requires. When software companies watch customers walk away over security issues, that day the software companies will begin shipping more secure products.
How do you buy software? Do you look for the equivalent of crumple zones and airbags, or do you look for the equivalent of tail fins?
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