Scalability of an Attack

Security of software - based systems is very high. It may sound weird because we keep on hearing about malware and hacks and holes. But a typical software - based system is far more secure today than typical hardware, be it a door lock or a padlock or even car's ignition system. Opening a locked door to a house or an apartment poses no problem to a professional thief.

But there is one fundamental difference which makes software based systems such attractive targets. A software attack is scalable. When you find a way to break it, you may bring a huge number of systems down. It is yet another scenario where bits scale and atoms do not. Breaking into thousand houses requires a significant effort from the attacker, even if opening a single door is easy. In software, when you find a way to break in, usually breaking into million systems requires the same effort as breaking into a single one.

This is what makes software - based systems so vulnerable. Not because the defenses are weak. But because the reward for an attacker is huge.