“Antivirus is dead”

Extract from The Digital Enterprise

There is a growing acceptance that most commercially available antivirus software cannot keep up with the speed and intensity of the attacker community. Also, if attackers are going to target an enterprise directly, they are likely to use a new technique that most antivirus products will miss. Consequently, at least some CIOs are reducing their firewall
and antivirus software spend and are shifting their resources to other security tactics. However, some executives continue to rely on traditional software products because industry regulations or customer contracts mandate their use.

But it’s one thing for an industry observer like me to say it, another for a major vendor of products to say that about their category. Brian Dye of Symantec tells the Wall Street Journal antivirus  is “dead” even though Norton and other antivirus tools are still their bread and butter.

He says

"If customers are shifting from protect to detect and respond, the growth is going to come from detect and respond,"

Shades of Steve Jobs when he said the post-PC era had arrived knowing well it would affect sales of the MacBook. And kudos to Apple for improving the MacBook and pricing it to keep it competitive even in the post-PC era.

Would it not be nice for on-premise software companies and single-tenant outsourcers and land line telcos and countless other vendors to make similar concessions? And to start selling next gen products and pricing the older ones at end of life levels?