Note: This is a 3 part Article and a long read. You can download the entire Audio Version Here

I have a formula for that would appear to suggest I will be gainfully employed for a very long time to come working in the area of Internet Security.

The short version of the formula goes like this:

Users+Windows+Internet=Trouble

Before I explain it any further it’s a good idea to figure out in terms of security were you are.

Lets look back at recent history, November 1993 to be specific and the worlds first ever Internet Browser was released Mosaic 1.0 .

It would take until approximately July 1995 for Microsoft to Release Internet Explorer 1.0 (just one month before the release of Windows95).

The Internet at this point was only really used in colleges and university or within the research and development/science community.

By this time Netscape had been born and was the market leading Internet Browser (which was free).

Microsoft feeling threatened and confused by the sudden arrival of the new kids on the block, decided to look at this Internet thing more closely and early in 1996 it suddenly clicked; The Internet was going to change everything.

Their fear was software running in these new Internet Browsers could potentially steal some of their business. As I write this article in 2005 its worth nothing I am using an Internet Browsers to create this article, so their initial fear was correct.

So let’s go back to 1996 and the Sleeping Giant is awake and has a sore head. First on their “to do” list was to ensure Netscape got squashed. As Netscape’s browser was free anyway, winning the battle on cost wasn’t going to work.

The eventual strategy was to ship Internet Explorer 3.0 for free and include it pre- installed with any new computer shipping from 1996 to today basically.

They also integrated Internet Explorer into Windows as a core component. They would spend some time in court about it later, but that’s another story.

Eventually the success of Windows meant that millions of Computers shipped with Internet Explorer already in the box, the user would have to go out of their way to seek a replacement. It just never happened.

Eventually Netscape’s market share dwindled and Internet Explorer became the market leading browser not because it was better or did more things, it was purely a numbers game.

Its 1997 now and Microsoft diverted by this “Browser Thing”, scratches its head would appear to be without any new ideas so starts to Develop what will become Windows98.

During this period the continued success of Windows and Internet continue to grow. Companies see real benefits to this new thing called e-mail.

The success of windows and the internet catches everyone off guard, but everyone gets excited.

This is prior to the Dot Com crash that was to follow. Suddenly everything on the Internet was golden. Everyone got caught up in it.

Ordinary people with good ideas became millionaires overnight; the tech sector grows and grows. Everyone is happy.

Year 2000 (y2k) Scares many companies into buying new computers to be Year2000 proof.

Based on this the tech sector seems bullet proof everyone is happy, I mean what could possible go wrong.

Y2k came and went, nothing much happened. But in march 2000…….

The Dot-Com Crash

When: March 11th, 2000 to October 9th, 2002
Where: Silicon Valley (for the most part)
Percentage Lost from Peak to Bottom: The Nasdaq Composite lost 78% of its value.

It’s now the morning after, and it’s bad, very, very bad.

In the second part of this article I will continue to explain how things got this bad….

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