Today, according to the International Computer Security Association in Reston, Va., some 80 computers per 1,000 are virus-stricken. Originally created as a forum for collaborative ideas, the Internet wasn't designed to be secure. Rather than maturing from that state of innocence, as one might expect, recent market developments are working against tougher security. Companies trying to seize first-mover advantage often release buggy and insecure software. More important, functionality has become the main catalyst of Net evolution.
Security is a growing, but still small part of the innovation equation.
Consumers too are partly to blame. So far that's not happening. Word is vulnerable to macro viruses, you would think people would move away from Word toward another product. Until you see a product losing market share because of security problems, there's no natural evolution in software development. The network effects surrounding Microsoft's dominance in Web browser and e-mail software are much discussed.