Security the story of the day - again

Why you should get used to it...

A quick scan down the list of stories on silicon.com's inbox today shows something of a theme: crime and security. There are some that say there's no better incentive to buy stuff than a bit of fear. There's a grain of truth in that. Others would point to a market where cracking down on wrongdoing - whether it be cracking, virus writing or piracy - is becoming more of a priority. Today we've heard about ID theft (a physical world as much as an online threat), telecoms scammers in south-east Asia, retail bank HBOS signing a managed security services contract with Ernst & Young, French police cracking a copying ring, Hollywood asking for our hearts to bleed over file-sharing, high street chain Dixons raising the issue of kids safety on the net and Welsh virus writer Simon Vallor losing an appeal against a two-year sentence. It's quite a list. Perhaps the over-riding point isn't that the authorities are getting their collective acts together, these developments following as they do on the heels of the sentencing of software pirate Bilal Khan. Rather, this would seem to be the product of two things: a maturing industry and an industry that is scared about future developments. No matter what anyone says, there is no substitute for properly implemented security. Just ask HBOS. And no matter what anyone says, there is no answer to the question of how verticals such as the music and film industries will make money long-term in a peer-to-peer world, even if the police, justice system and organisations such as the RIAA are becoming fiercer in their resolve. Expect more days where security features prominently. And don't think we especially like it that way.