Execs warned: Don't ignore spam menace

Internet users beware: Laziness has dire consequences.

As technology executives hunker down for a prolonged battle against spammers and virus writers, they caution that their products can only go so far to protect consumers against the proliferation of "phishing" scams and virus-spreading emails. Instead, they say, some of the responsibility for spam prevention is on the shoulders of Internet users.

"This is an awareness problem, not a product problem," Symantec CEO John Thompson said during a panel discussion keyed to the launch of CNET Editor at Large Esther Dyson's Release 1.0 Web site. CNET is the publisher of ZDNet UK.

If Thompson is right, it's a problem not given to quick solution. Despite advances in the last couple of years, other executives on the panel -- which took place Wednesday at the headquarters of News.com publisher CNET Networks -- agreed that the tech industry has a long way to go in raising this awareness.

Some panel participants, such as Brad Garlinghouse, vice-president of communication products at Yahoo, and Meng Weng Wong, founder of PoBox.com, floated the idea of primary email providers such as Yahoo, Microsoft and America Online giving users incentives to be more careful about how they share information online and what they download.

"We, as an industry, can give you incentives not to be lazy," said Yahoo's Garlinghouse. "By working collectively we can attack this."

Spam, once merely a nuisance that clogged in-boxes, has evolved into a tool for criminals intent on stealing credit card numbers or launching viruses.