Tech giants form insecurity consortium

FIVE TECH GIANTS announced they are forming a consortium to “enhance global IT security”.

IBM, Cisco, Intel, Mightysoft and Juniper Networks have all lovingly joined hands and promised world peace in the form of better IT security. By establishing the Industry Consortium for Advancement of Security on the Internet (ICASI), the techzillas say that together they will combat complex, multi-product security threats, whilst wearing nothing but tight lycra. A dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.

The ICASI press release notes that as the Internet grows, common Internet security threats continue to evolve from wide-reaching worms and viruses to more sophisticated, stealth attacks and targeting of multiple products or shared protocols in multiple products. ICASI sees a void, and aims to fill it! (Symantec shuffles off into a corner somewhere and sobs).

Intel’s General Manager for Information Risk and Security, puffed out his muscled chest and said with deep sincerity, "It is critical that the technology industry strengthen its ability to combat the ever-changing nature of the global cyber threat landscape."

There are different theories about why the tech behemoths have gone to the bureaucratic trouble of creating a consortium.

Could it be that Cisco, plagued by security issues of late, thought it would be a good way to improve its image? Did Cisco call up its friends Intel and IBM and say, “guys, have I got a PR coup for you, wait till you hear it…”?

Or do these massive profit making machines just really want to give a little something back by setting up a cosy little not-for-profit, which handily, excludes all the companies the big five despise (Check Point, Apple, Sun, Adobe, Mozilla…). Hmmm…we do wonder! µ