Experts said public companies worry about the loss of customer confidence and the legal liability to shareholders or security vendors when they report flaws.

Dell fills its computers with crapware, collecting fees from McAfee and other vendors to pre-install 'trial' versions.

The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents.

Drug manufacturers could afford to sell AIDS drugs in Africa at virtually any discount. The companies said they did not do so because Africa lacked the requisite infrastructure.

Nothing is absolute in security.

The Obama administration has provided almost no public information about the NSA's compliance record.