In a stunning announcement, Brian Dye, Symantec's senior vice president for information, said: "We don't think of antivirus as a moneymaker in any way."

The announcement is leading the way for Symantec to get out of the anti-virus game and instead start focusing on fixing hacking problems rather than stopping them.

Dye acknowledged that modern antivirus software only stops around 45 per cent of attacks. That does not bode well for its Norton Anti-virus app.

He does admit that Norton is still worth buying as it blocks spam, manages passwords, and spots dodgy links in third-party websites.

Symantec wants to start providing business customers with security as a service. That means it will track intrusions as they occur, advise on the best way to protect data from collection, and find out who is doing the attacking.

"It's one thing to sit there and get frustrated," he said. "It's another thing to act on it, go get your act together and go play the game you should have been playing in the first place. If customers are shifting from protect to detect and respond, the growth is going to come from detect and respond."