Bruce Schneier, founder and chief technical officer of Counterpane Internet Security, might be as close as the computer security industry gets to its own celebrity. Although not as well known as Larry Ellison at Oracle or Bill Gates at Microsoft, Schneier is still the public face of his company, recognized by industry insiders as one of their gurus. Businesses hire Counterpane to guard their networks from hackers and viruses in the same way a nervous homeowner would pay a home-security provider like ADT to watch for fires or burglars.

But unlike most entrepreneurs, Schneier admits that he spends much of his time not focused on his creation. Schneier helped build the Mountain View start-up through his technical expertise and the exposure he brings as a high-profile security guru, but he has turned its operations over to others to run. While they introduce new services to make the company profitable after five years and $78 million in venture funding, he focuses on what he sees as loftier issues.

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