Summary

Summary

As you can see, the world of the defender is not a pleasant one. As defenders, software developers must build applications and solutions that are constantly vigilant, but the attackers always have the upper hand and insecure software will quickly be defeated. In short, we must work smarter to defeat the attackers. That said, I doubt we'll ever defeat Internet vandals, simply because there are so many attackers, so many servers to attack, and the fact that many attackers assail Internet-based computers simply because they can! Or, as George Mallory (1886-1924) answered the question, Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest? : Because it is there. Nevertheless, we can raise the bar substantially, to a point where the attackers will find software more difficult to attack and use their skills for other purposes.

Finally, be aware that security is different from other aspects of computing. Other than your own developers, few, if any, people are actively looking for scalability or internationalization issues in software. However, plenty of people are willing to spend time, money, and sweat looking for security vulnerabilities. The Internet is an incredibly complex and hostile environment, and your applications must survive there.