http://www.cnet.com/news/how-fear-and-self-preservation-are-driving-a-cyber-arms-race/
By Max Taves
@maxtaves
CNET News
May 2, 2015
When a man was fired from his job in Minneapolis, Minn., last May, he
inadvertently touched off a boom in Silicon Valley.
Gregg Steinhafel, then a 35-year veteran of Target and its CEO, was shown
the door after hackers infiltrated the retailer's computer systems,
stealing 70 million shoppers' information and 40 million credit and debit
card numbers. It turned out the hack might have been prevented, had the
company not ignored warnings from its own security systems.
It happened again in December, when Amy Pascal, one of the most powerful
women in Hollywood, was fired from her job heading up Sony Pictures after
hackers exposed thousands of financial documents and emails revealing the
film studio's inner secrets. The hack captured the world's attention and
elicited criticism from customers, industry leaders and even the president
of the United States.
Pascal's and Steinhafel's exits sent shockwaves through corporate America.
The message was clear: Top executives will be held responsible for their
companies' cybersecurity failings.
The result, venture capitalists say, has been a boom for cybersecurity
startups. In ways that previous attacks on consumers never did, the
firings have sparked a scramble for new security technology by companies
desperate to head off the next costly, embarrassing cyberattack. And
venture capitalists are responding, pouring unprecedented billions into a
dizzying array of young companies and their, largely, untested products.
[...]
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