Security Expert: "No One Wants to Buy Security!"

Bruce Schneier, one of the most appreciated security experts in the world, predicted some time ago the death of the security industry and these days, along with the RSA Conference and its security events, it seems he was right. Although the exhibitors came with all sorts of applications able to provide all kinds of security measures, visitors simply don't buy security. Why? "The problem is that most of the people attending the RSA Conference can't understand what the products do or why they should buy them. So they don't," Bruce Schneier explains. "The sellers can't explain what they're selling to the buyers, and the buyers don't buy because they don't understand what the sellers are selling," he continued.

Although security is one of the most important aspects of today's IT market, customers are looking for powerful security products which could be easy to use and understand. However, they can't find such a technology because developers can't simply explain what their solution does. Schneier clarifies, "Customers care less about details and more about results. Technological innovations become something the infrastructure providers pay attention to, and they package it for their customers".

"No one wants to buy security. They want to buy something truly useful -- database management systems, Web 2.0 collaboration tools, a company-wide network -- and they want it to be secure. They don't want to have to become IT security experts. They don't want to have to go to the RSA Conference. This is the future of IT security."

The security guru drew an interesting parallel between the security market and the automotive industry, "Imagine if the inventor of antilock brakes -- or any automobile safety or security feature -- had to sell them directly to the consumer. It would be an uphill battle convincing the average driver that he needed to buy them; maybe that technology would have succeeded and maybe it wouldn't. But that's not what happens. Antilock brakes, airbags, and that annoying sensor that beeps when you're backing up too close to another object are sold to automobile companies, and those companies bundle them together into cars that are sold to consumers".