Editorial: Let security be next big thing

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2006 | 8:01 a.m.

In his traditional keynote speech to jump-start the annual Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday night that "2006 is going to be a big year for the digital lifestyle." He went on to show why.

Microsoft's Vista operating system, scheduled for release this year with impressive new features, was demonstrated. And through other demonstrations and a sharing of his vision, Gates foretold the day when all digital devices will be linked, enabling us to be wired at all times.

We are as fascinated by the proverbial "next big thing" as anyone. But we have to wonder: Are Microsoft and other digital innovators moving too fast? We ask that out of concern for individual privacy and security. No one has yet figured out how to totally block such annoyances as spam and unwanted software sneakily inserted into our systems for advertising purposes.

Far worse is that major computer crime is accelerating rapidly, costing individual consumers and businesses a lot of time and money. Hackers can enter our personal and business computers as well as our bank accounts, and every time a software maker issues a "patch," high-tech thieves figure out another way in.

At CES and other computer shows, we expect all the announcements about new ways of pulling consumers ever more deeply into the digital world. But announcements about new and greater security should rank right up there with them.