Cybercrooks Outpacing Cybercops: McAfee

It's that time of year when the major security vendors release updates, upgrades... and public statements. McAfee's CEO this week pointed out that cybercrime is now bigger than the illegal drug trade -- and continues to grow.David DeWalt, keynoting the Informationweek 500, cited cybercrime as having a $105 billion annual churn, and made the point that it increasingly is operating as a business. The days of rogue hackers operating solo may not be completely gone, but the threat they pose is now far overshadowed by "sophisticated groups attacking organizations around the world."

Those groups -- companies, individuals, institutions -- are as yet unprepared for the size of the cyber-threat, with many unaware of just how bad the situation is, even as new technologies offer new opportunities for new crimes.

Among the rays of hope DeWalt (not surprisingly) foresees is security industry consolidation, giving you fewer choices for your security vendors, but likewise giving you a better chance at a single-vendor solution across all of your company's IT infrastructure.

Question is, will security industry consolidation -- and the accompanying reduction in competition -- produce standardized platforms that are more easily managed, or monolithic companies focused on creating "good enough" products while reducing investments in the research, development, and innovation we now need more than ever?