Defending Against Hackers Took a Back Seat at Yahoo, Insiders Say
From the article:> The "Paranoids," the internal name for Yahoo’s security team, often clashed with other parts of the business over security costs. And their requests were often overridden because of concerns that the inconvenience of added protection would make people stop using the company’s products.That's the best summary of the problem for the industry as a whole, not only tech but any industry where failures are uncommon but with grave consequences.A quote from Fight Club that illustrates that problem:> Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall?> Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X.> If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.That's the current mindset of the technological world, estimating whether the cost of atoning for the problem is lower than the cost of securing the systems.