IDG Contributor Network: Data breach costs go way beyond chargebacks

When it comes to IT security, a guarantee is a very seductive and attractive concept. It's an emotional appeal, trying to send the message "No matter what happens, we'll have your back. You can relax and worry about other things." But in security, it can be as dangerous as it is unrealistic.

The danger lies not in the guarantee directly, but in the relaxed efforts that belief in such a guarantee can cause. What brings this to mind is an otherwise impressive guarantee from a payments security vendor, where a CEO's hyped comments go beyond what is possible and lures in executives who may be quick to believe what they want to believe.

The company is Forter, and the sad part is that if it's public statements simply stuck to what it actually does, it would have a powerful and compelling message. Consider this legitimate pitch from the vendor's boilerplate: "Forter's solution is entirely automated, evaluating every transaction in real-time and providing an instant approval/rejection decision so that genuine customers aren't even aware that they're being examined. The system works with behavioral analytics, cyber intelligence and elastic identity, and uses machine learning and the power of big data, informed and refined by the human understanding of highly trained analysts."

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