Virus hunters
Introduction to Management
Managing the Virus Hunters
“Imagine what life would be like if your product were never finished, if your work were never done, if your market shifted 30 times a day. The computervirus hunters at Symantec Corp. don’t have to imagine. That’s the reality of their daily work life. At the company’s Response Lab in Santa Monica,
California, described as the “dirtiest of all our networks at Symantec”, software analysts collect viruses and other suspicious code and try to figure out how they work so the company can provide security updates to its customers. There’s even a hazardous materials box by the door to the lab, marked DANGER, where they put ah the discs, tapes, and hard drives with the nasty viruses that need to be completely disposed of. Symantec’s situation may seem unique, but the company, which makes content and network security software for both consumers and businesses, reflects the realities facing many organizations today: quickly shifting customer expectations and continuously emerging global competitors that have drastically shortened product life cycles. Managing talented people in such an environment can be quite challenging as well. Vincent Weafer, a native of lreland, has been the leader of Symantec’s virus hunting team since 1999.
Back then, he said, “There were less than two dozen people, and nothing really happened. We’d see maybe five new viruses a day and they would spread in a matter of months, not minutes.” Now,
Symantec’s virus hunters around the world deal with some 20,000 virus samples each month, not ah of which are unique, stand-alone viruses. To make the hunters’ jobs even more interesting, computer attacks are increasingly being spread by criminals wanting to steal information, whether corporate data or personal user account information that can be used in fraud. Dealing with these critical and timesensitive issues requires special talents. The response center team is a
Managing the Virus Hunters
“Imagine what life would be like if your product were never finished, if your work were never done, if your market shifted 30 times a day. The computervirus hunters at Symantec Corp. don’t have to imagine. That’s the reality of their daily work life. At the company’s Response Lab in Santa Monica,
California, described as the “dirtiest of all our networks at Symantec”, software analysts collect viruses and other suspicious code and try to figure out how they work so the company can provide security updates to its customers. There’s even a hazardous materials box by the door to the lab, marked DANGER, where they put ah the discs, tapes, and hard drives with the nasty viruses that need to be completely disposed of. Symantec’s situation may seem unique, but the company, which makes content and network security software for both consumers and businesses, reflects the realities facing many organizations today: quickly shifting customer expectations and continuously emerging global competitors that have drastically shortened product life cycles. Managing talented people in such an environment can be quite challenging as well. Vincent Weafer, a native of lreland, has been the leader of Symantec’s virus hunting team since 1999.
Back then, he said, “There were less than two dozen people, and nothing really happened. We’d see maybe five new viruses a day and they would spread in a matter of months, not minutes.” Now,
Symantec’s virus hunters around the world deal with some 20,000 virus samples each month, not ah of which are unique, stand-alone viruses. To make the hunters’ jobs even more interesting, computer attacks are increasingly being spread by criminals wanting to steal information, whether corporate data or personal user account information that can be used in fraud. Dealing with these critical and timesensitive issues requires special talents. The response center team is a