Security is Like Dentistry

By Rich | August 30, 2006

Guess where I spent the day?

I’ll warn you now, I have a bad habit of taking metaphors too far.

Security is like dentistry:

  1. It costs more than you think it should.

  2. It’s more painful than the providers ever tell you.

  3. If you don’t keep up with ongoing maintenance it costs A LOT more and is WAY more painful.

  4. It’s really hard to find a good provider.

  5. Most vendors prey on fear.

  6. Some vendors sell a pretty smile, not that their products actually work.

  7. If you make decisions based only on financial Return On Investment you’ll really screw things up.

and finally,

<

p style=”text-indent:20pt;”>8. No matter how many times you strap someone to a chair, shine a light in their face, and poke them with sharp objects until they bleed you can’t make them any smarter. Time to go rinse…

(edited 8/31 adding point 7)

3 Comments

T
Things You Really Don’t Like To Hear | secur 2007-07-27
Ah, yet another one of those painful maintenance tasks.
r
rmogull 2006-09-06
But it didn'‘t stop me from trying…
w
wpn 2006-09-05
And no amount of frantic last-minute cleaning up before you get your exam will fool your provider at all.