If you’ve purchased a Windows-based PC in the last, oh, decade+, you’re probably aware that it comes bundled with Symantec’s Norton Antivirus software. Ostensibly designed to keep the eminently vulnerable PCs safe, most users find that its main function seems to be eating up inordinate amounts of RAM. According to one Symantec executive, the product’s shortcomings are not lost on the company.

According to Symantec senior vice president for information security Brian Dye, antivirus programs as we know them are “doomed to failure.” The Wall Street Journal reports that end-point security programs aren’t making money anymore, and the reason isn’t surprising – hackers are focusing more on cyber-attacks and less on malware, and current antivirus programs catch less than half of all cyber-attack attempts.

For instance, rather than emailing a malevolent .exe file to millions, it’s much more effective to engage in denial-of-service assaults, spearphishing, and network intrusion. With no malware file to pinpoint and quarantine, a traditional antivirus program isn’t especially useful.

This is a problem for Symantic, who Dye says draws 40% of their revenue from antivirus software, half of which is sold to enterprise-level customers.

Though end-user products like Norton are unlikely to disappear entirely any time soon, Symantec is looking ahead to cyber security solutions while they still have a chance. They aren’t alone, though. Juniper’s Firefly product is targeted at corporate firewalls, and Cisco is placing heavy emphasis on the importance of the outer reaches of a network as opposed to the end-user.

“If customers are shifting from protect to detect and respond, the growth is going to come from detect and respond,” Dye told the Journal.

Given their market share, Symantec is as well-positioned as anyone to fill in the gaps in the burgeoning cyber security market. On the heels of the famous Target data breach, they intend to create their own response team to help educate and inform businesses by selling intelligence reports detailing why breaches occur and how companies can plug the holes.

Until things change, though, PC users will be forced to gamble whether it’s worth deactivating Norton to gain back some of their CPU horsepower.