Nothing like a holiday story pitch from a security vendor to get you into the spirit of the season

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

December 7, 2006

2 Min Read

5:30 PM -- If you think Christmas decorations plastered around the stores before you had even carved the Thanksgiving turkey, and the early November 24-hour Christmas music on your local radio station were premature holiday overkill, think again.

It seems the holiday spirit has seeped its way into the security industry, at least when it comes to pitching story ideas for that notoriously slow year-end news cycle. Aside from the mountain of 2007 security prediction pitches, we're now receiving "holiday-themed" pitches that make the shopping malls feel like you're, well, home for the holidays.

(Okay, full disclosure here: I am feeling a little Scrooge-ish today because I woke up this morning to the sight of our newly decorated Christmas tree keeled over on the carpet, shards of broken ornaments strewn across the room, beads and lights askew, and our cat purring contentedly in the corner. It's now anchored to the wall with fishing line, after falling a second time and losing another layer of ornaments).

Anyway, here's a pitch we just received from one security vendor, which will remain anonymous, as will its product family (see brackets):

  • Subject: Holiday thought from [VENDOR NAME]

    A quick holiday thought:

    Perhaps the most powerful idea in our space that has escaped analysis is that [PRODUCT CATEGORY] solutions are changing the very nature of enterprise identity and access management rather than simply securing enterprise portals.

    FFIEC, SOX, HIPAA et al compliance propels companies deep into the enterprise. Fraud detection, if done correctly, makes real time authentication decisions for enterprise end users and employees at login and in-session, screens for fraud at all points and serves as an interoperability platform for disparate vendors and data.

    Thanks,

    [COMPANY EXEC]

Feel like caroling out in the snow now? The debate over the over-commercialization of Christmas certainly isn't new, but since when do enterprise identity, SOX, and HIPPA, conjure holiday thoughts and greetings?

Here's my holiday thought: Have a cool yule, and please, please, please: Don't ask Santa for a clean compliance audit, an interoperability platform for disparate vendors' products, a unified threat management platform, or even a new Vista rollout. If you need an injection of Christmas spirit, head over to the mall.

— Kelly Jackson Higgins, Senior Editor, Dark Reading

About the Author(s)

Dark Reading Staff

Dark Reading

Dark Reading is a leading cybersecurity media site.

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