Symantec Threatcon

Picture a close-call home robbery. A mom sleeps soundly. The kids are in bed. A window is smashed in, and an arm, always clothed in a black sweatshirt, reaches in and desperately searches for a doorknob. An alarm goes off. The kids wake up. They run into the bedroom to be with their mother, who, luckily, is on the phone with the home security company. Terrifying.

I feel the urge to call the security company, too. I consider the safety and security in my apartment. Then I gain my senses. And I feel overwhelmingly resentful.

I felt the same thing a few years back when the terrorism threat level would fluctuate, with no concrete reasons to validate the changes, and at politically opportune times. Grumble.

Now, Symantec has adopted the same system. On the Symantec website, computer users can view their color-coded risk. All of these systems seem to say the same thing: "Trust us. It's bad out there. We work in this business. We know. You should use this information as a motivator to do [fill in the blank]."

Grrr...