You know what I hate...
IT Security Advertising on TV

Now that malware is recognized as a serious issue to be dealt with in serious ways, the advertising of IT security products is becoming more commonplace with more and more different vendors hawking their snakeoil on the various cable news outlets.

My favorite is the ad that is quite memorable for one reason only, but as an advertisement is an utter failure:  I cannot remember the name of the advertiser.  All I remember is a well dressed good looking model in high heels going to battle with a cyber attacker.  The final scene of the ad is straight out of the 1983 movie, WarGames.  The multicolored lights flash.  The sounds become deafening. Until our heroine defeats the attacker.  And the circus moves on to the next town.  Of course, this is all quite silly.  I think it would be marvelous if malware would announce itself with such fanfare, but it rarely announces itself at all.  Today's malware is quite stealthy.  In fact, an attacker may lie dormant on a system for months before made active by its hacker captains.  Such was the case with the SolarWinds hack of Summer 2020.  Systems are still struggling with that.

And how about that ISP that just doesn't stop malware. The ISP "Crushes it!"  Well, if that were the case, then why didn't Accenture, the world's largest IT consultancy firm with large enterprise customers the world over, employ that ISP's secret sauce to "crush" its ransomware that occured this past spring?  There is no secret sauce to prevent or thwart malware.

As long as users continue to open questionable emails; indulge in websites that have no "socially redeeming qualities;"  ignore the need to continually patch and update all software; the LIST of NOT BEST PRACTICES goes on and on.  One cannot rely on technology saving one from malware no more than a seatbelt will save one from all harm if one drives a car with bad brakes.

The one company that is not overplaying its cybersecurity hand on TV is CrowdStrike.  CrowdStrike's ads simply say "We Stop Breaches." And CrowdStrike has been quite successful in stopping breaches.  But stopping breaches implies that the breach has already occurred.  This service is not cheap and really is not tailored to individual users, or even smaller enterprise networks.  How much does it cost to stop a breach? In the immortal words of that Great Philospher King, Chico Marx, "You can't afford it."

Gerald Reiff

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