Symantec has today confirmed that email correspondence between the company and a hacker, in which the company attempted to confirm the theft of its source code and offer US$50,000 to stop it from appearing online, did actually occur.
Surprisingly the SMH in reporting on the same matter did not bother to mention that Symantec apparently were willing to talk turkey, albeit on negotiated terms vis a vis:
Sam Thomas from Symantec said:
"We will pay you $50,000.00 USD total.
"However, we need assurances that you are not going to release the code after payment. We will pay you $2500 a month for the first three months. Payments start next week. After the first three months, you have to convince us you have destroyed the code before we pay the balance. We are trusting you to keep your end of the bargain.
"You know how the corporate environment works, and we have to treat this like a business transaction," Thomas wrote.
"However, we need assurances that you are not going to release the code after payment. We will pay you $2500 a month for the first three months. Payments start next week. After the first three months, you have to convince us you have destroyed the code before we pay the balance. We are trusting you to keep your end of the bargain.
"You know how the corporate environment works, and we have to treat this like a business transaction," Thomas wrote.
Not a good public relations look for a company now best known for security related software!