2006-11-01
Abstract
'I believe the humour used in my [VB2006] presentation at the expense of Symantec was justified, but it was unfair to fail to acknowledge the dedication, intellect and ingenuity of the many people Symantec employs.' Randy Abrams, ESET.
Copyright © 2006 Virus Bulletin
I deeply regret failing to acknowledge the fantastic talent of the many employees of Symantec during my presentation at the Virus Bulletin 2006 conference last month in Montréal. I tried to be fair to Microsoft in criticizing some aspects of what Microsoft is doing and has done, while acknowledging the talented and dedicated employees working there. I had intended to publicly acknowledge the immense talent and dedication of my friends at Symantec (I hope they are still friends), and I failed to do so. The presentation was an evolving work up to (and into) the actual time of presentation and this oversight was unfair. I do not believe the jokes were unfair or cheap - however failing also to put a human face on Symantec was an inappropriate oversight.
I did criticize Symantec for not being as innovative as I believe it should be, and I do recognize that with talent such as Peter Ferrie, Peter Ször, Eric Chien, Mark Kennedy, Per Hellqvist, and scores of other talented researchers and developers, there is no level of innovative brilliance that could come from Symantec that would be beyond belief. Symantec has some fantastically talented people that any company - anti-virus or otherwise - would be ecstatic to have in its ranks. I suspect that if Symantec had key managers in the right places with half the skills, insight and wisdom of Vincent Weafer, it would be Symantec, and not Microsoft, that the rest of the industry would be scared of.
As a Microsoft employee for eight of the 10 VB conferences I have attended, I became very used to sitting through many presentations that used humour at the expense of my former employer. I was never upset by jokes at the expense of Microsoft where Microsoft had earned the derision. I believe the humour used in my presentation at the expense of Symantec was justified, but it was unfair to fail to acknowledge the dedication, intellect and ingenuity of the many people Symantec employs.
My apologies to any who may have been offended - that was never my intent. I appreciate the many times that various people in the AV industry, including Symantec employees, have invited me to join their tables, even at the peril of lowering the overall IQ of the group! The presentation was my personal perspective. ESET was not afforded editorial review of the final presentation, and only had access to a semi-final draft of the printed review for feedback prior to submission. The contents of the printed and published presentations were my own work and my responsibility.
Special thanks to Jimmy Kuo and Nick FitzGerald for the live 'command performance' of their quotes.
