The successful 21st century company will adopt the
organisational structure favoured by cyber criminals, according
to the chief executive of cybersecurity firm Websense.
Discussing what makes cyber criminals successful, Websense CEO
Gene Hodges told Computer Weekly that e-criminals were agile,
distributed, expert and didn't pay taxes. "That's the model for any
successful company in the 21st century," he said.
It is the model Websense itself is adopting, although Gene
Hodges was quick to say Websense abides by the law, including
paying taxes, in the 30-plus countries in which it operates.
He said the
economics of software development had "swung over to the dark
side".
"A programmer just out of school can now earn $200,000 a year
writing code for a
Russian cyber crime gang. That's four or five times what he'd
make in the regular industry," Hodges said.
As cyber gangs don't pay tax, the software industry is at a
competitive pay disadvantage in attracting the best talent, he
said.
John Thompson, CEO of Symantec, corroborated Hodges' view. The
effect was that, according to Symantec's research,
65% of all new software that hits the internet today is
malware. Most of it aims to steal personal and sensitive data,
he said.
Hodges endorsed the trend towards organisations securing data at
all stages of its life-cycle. This meant understanding better what
was important to firms. He cited mining giant BHP Billiton as an
example. The two firms had worked together on a bid to acquire Port
Authority, which runs US harbours. "You'd say BHP's key assets were
mines and giant trucks, and you'd be wrong," he said. "The CIO told
me the company's most important data was the knowledge of how to
get a few extra percent of metal from an ore body." And because the
firm was highly acquisitive, the next most important data were
commercial intelligence about rivals and bids for target firms, he
said.
"One bit of information under those circumstances could change a
price by several billion dollars, so we are talking about real
money," Hodges said.
Hodges said globalisation meant development teams were
increasingly distributed. Geography was becoming less relevant and
talent and skills were the overriding criteria for success, brought
together using the internet, he said. "Our organisation chart looks
like a bunch of blobs as a result," he said. "We think of ourselves
more as a tribe."
Like many of its customers, Websense is a target for cyber
criminals. Hodges said even his home network was getting 500 hits a
day. This coloured his firm's relationships with partners around
the world, notably in China, where until recently intellectual
property was less protected than in the West.
"But we have to watch the US and everywhere else too. You just
can't trust anyone," he said.