End of Software, The: Finding Security, Flexibility, and Profit in the On Demand Future

The Cost of Security

Protecting against physical disasters is not the only source of cost. The cost of ensuring a secure system has received increased visibility in the wake of the Melissa, Blaster, and Sobig.F viruses and worms. The cost to companies of these malicious viruses is estimated to be in the billions. Investor's Business Daily said worm and virus damage cost businesses up to $13 billion in 2003.^[3] A recent example is Sobig.F, which in its first week blanketed the world with 200 million emails as it spread in attached files. While the cost of not paying attention to security is high, the cost of managing security is not trivial. A team at a Los Alamos laboratory estimated that, if they had to install a single security patch per month ...