Economics can actually explain
many of the puzzling realities of Internet
security. Firewalls are common;
email encryption is rare: not
because of the relative effectiveness
of the technologies, but because of
the economic pressures that drive
companies to install them. Companies
rarely publicize information
about intrusions because of economic
incentives against doing so.
And an insecure operating system is
the international standard, in part
because its economic effects are
largely borne not by the company
that builds the operating system, but
by the customers that buy it.