Doug Baker of Tucson, Arizona wanted to know how to promote his network security services to local CEOs without making their MIS directors angry.
From Susan Hammond of Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
“Write an article about network security concerns in the paper or
local business magazines, painting the IT guys as the heroes, able to
plug large holes in a single bound (with the right help, of course).
Allow the IT guys to be the heroes when they present the problem, AND sell your solution, up the line at their company. You could even market to IT professionals, inviting them to ‘Be A Hero’ by finding and plugging security holes. Now they’re focused on the upside of glory instead of the downside of admitting their weakness.
From Peter Humleker of Dickinson, North Dakota:
“Put a very bold ad or press release in the newspaper that says: ‘Local computer security expert bets $1,000 that he can hack into any corporation’s network security system!’
“Then explain how you will give any corporation $1,000 if you can’t hack into their system, with their permission of course. When you are successful hacking in and showing them how flawed their system is, they will hire you to fix it. This stunt would give you huge publicity.”
From Sandie Vega of San Antonio, Texas:
“Offer them a F~REE Security System Analysis. Tell them you can make sure that their network is secure and that they do not have anything to worry about, and when you find a problem tell them ‘At least we caught it sooner rather then later.’ Also, you can say something like ‘This security hole is something that even the best IT guy might not catch!'”