Re: Why does this problem exist?
While it's true that there are constant development pressures to incorporate faster wireless and DSL standards (for example), the management software (which is where most of the security problems lie) generally hasn't changed much in functionality over years, and is barely ever touched by most of the end users. In a sane world, the management code would have been stable apart from the odd bug fix for nearly a decade. And probably locked into a standard, safe, configuration by default.
However, the notional manufacturers don't actually seem to have much responsibility for hardware or software, beyond developing a functional spec which they then sub out to the cheapest supplier. Or in some cases to a batch of different suppliers - it's not uncommon for different "revisions" of the supposedly-same hardware to have significantly different chip sets.
That actually adds to long-term costs as the vendor is constantly re-buying functionally-similar hardware and software components that are so different in implementation it's impossible to support them in any meaningful sense. And all they have to show in assets at the end of the process is a brand name tarnished by shoddy products that are indistinguishable from every other tarnished brand's shoddy products.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
