It seems that your position on identity management has changed.
Thompson: Yes, a year or so ago we were really studying the opportunity, and we looked long and hard at what our entry point would be. And we looked at a number of technologies that we had in our own portfolio or things that we could acquire, and when we kind of stepped away from it and did the customer validation side, what customers said was, look, we already have something, we haven't fully deployed it, we haven't deployed it because the management of the key infrastructure around identities is so complex, and so we don't need help there at all.
Yet when you go and you ask consumers: "What are you worried about?" They're worried about phishing, identity theft, online fraud, all things that are undermining their confidence in doing more and more online. So we think there's a place where we can make a difference.
At the Demo conference recently you showed off an early version of a product called Norton Identity Manager. What is the purpose of that product?
Thompson: The Norton Identity Client is focused on the idea of helping a consumer have, let's say, single-use credit card numbers where they can go to an online site, facilitate a transaction, but not have to worry about having their credentials visible to the world at large. It's a one-time use phenomenon. Or being able to validate a site as being a legitimate site, knowing that the bank or the e-tailer that I'm interacting with is who I thought I was interacting with.
When I read some of the description of Norton Identity Manager it also made me think of Microsoft Passport. You suggest people use their Norton accounts to pay for online shopping, for example. Passport failed. Is Norton Identity Manager different?
Thompson: Well, there may be some techniques and technologies that are similar, but I think there are two fundamental things that are different. One, it's a different moment in time. When Microsoft attempted Passport the market wasn't quite ready for that. People didn't perceive that there was a problem that needed to be solved by Microsoft. Two, and perhaps more important, they didn't trust the company that wanted to offer the solution. So technology without trust is going to flounder, and that's what essentially happened with Passport.
You just ended a disappointing quarter, yet your consumer business appears to be very strong. How come that's going gangbusters?
Thompson: We've always had a view that it's always difficult to compete with Microsoft's marketing. It's much easier to compete with their products, and I think that's reflected in the performance of Norton Internet Security in the marketplace right now. It's a terrific product and it's cleaning Microsoft's clock around the world as well as others in the industry as well.
You've mentioned Microsoft as one of the big guns and you've also said Oracle, IBM, EMC, Cisco have all awoken to the reality that security is an essential element of today's business. Do you have any fear that any of these big guys are going to take your business?
Thompson: Fear? We are fearless at Symantec! The notion that somebody who doesn't have the same experience that we have, that doesn't have the same human capital invested in the security world that we do, doesn't have the strength of its relationship with customers and partners around the world, or doesn't have the technology portfolio that we do, can come in and take this away from us -- I don't think that's the case, and therefore there's no reason for us to be fearful of anyone. If anything, we need to sharpen our own execution to make sure that our missteps don't create openings or opportunities for competitors that we created as opposed to they created.
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