With more than 1,000 licensees, RSA spawned an industry that came into full flower in the 1990s, when the Internet heightened demand for digital security. He recently discussed the postpatent state of RSA with Institutional Investor Assistant Managing Editor Jeffrey Kutler. Our business is, for the most part, driven by the Internet. We obviously believe that over the long term a tremendous proportion of the economy and exchanges of information will be on the Internet. There's no turning back from that.
Security is fundamental to e-commerce and to the confident flow of information over the Internet.
We have seen a steady buildup of customers trying to understand their needs for security. Security is coming out of the shadow of internal security departments and is getting more prominence with business decision makers and upper managements. In an economy that is potentially slowing down, business leaders will be looking for ways to be more cost-effective. The Internet can help with that, and security enables it. There are mitigating factors.