[Moderator: Last post on this thread.]
>Reply From: Anonymous
>I have spoken to a half-dozen former "insiders" from ISS. They all told me
>the same thing: The X force has four guys on their team--not 50 (humor).
>And I have heard from ISS' own people, claiming at various
>conferences--various numbers (25 at Infowar.con), (40 at CSI, 25 at
>CSI--same conference, different people and different "presentations").
>Hmm. A virtual number. Cool.
Despite these varying numbers, the claim of '4' is definitely inaccurate.
As I have personally met between 10 - 15 of the *current* x-force
team members, as well as another half dozen former members, and the team is
fairly substantial. I think part of this confusion comes about because the
team doesn't sit in one building. ISS has the team spread out over several
regions to help support their customer base as well as other internal
teams as needed. Another possible source of confusion is the job descriptions
of each team member. The ISS X-Force team does a LOT more than research
new vulnerabilities throughout the day. Since many people see the X-Force
group as Bug/Vuln R&D only, that would lend to claims that 50 is high.
Either way, ISS continues to release quality advisories and strive to keep
the security community aware and the vendors in line.
>If this isn't another classic case of the Marketing Machine alive and
>well--nothing is. And frankly, such blatant smoke-screening is pathetic.
>
>What was that about ethics?
This will NOT degrade into a flame war, and this comment is not directed
to anyone or any company.. but *every* company is guilty of this at
one point or another. Be it claims of personell, company ethics, product
claims, or anything else. Even then, these claims are often no more than
misquotes, miscommunication, or something equally benign. I challenge anyone
to show me a company where all departments communicate perfectly.
I am sure we can all find 100 things right AND wrong about any company
out there. Instead, lets just focus on keeping everyone aware of new
information security happenings.
-o-
Subscribe: mail majordomo@repsec.com with "subscribe isn".
Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
Received on Fri Nov 13 23:31:20 1998