Sunday, December 9, 2007

Flattery - Kind of...

I was quoted out of context and without permission on a Tofino sales brochure. I found out when a member of the Inductive Automation Integrator Program contacted me about the device. It really annoys me that I interested enough to contact the company to volunteer to beta test/review a unit and they tried to sell me one and blew me off. Then they come back quoting me in their sales brochure regarding a device I've never seen.

In a control.com thread, Walt Boyes and I were dueling over network security in the industrial arena and the role of IT. Walt busts out with this "revolutionary edge peripheral firewall ", the Tofino device. I come back expressing interest in the idea, noting that IT should still be involved in such matters since they understand the technologies.

I emailed Walt about giving permission for his quote (which is located above mine). His response, "As a public figure I don't have a choice about being quoted, but I'd prefer that they say what I actually did, especially when it is written down (like in my blog)."

My quote was a little farther off - see transcription below. Walt emailed the company. I haven't decided on my next move yet. I really should have said "idea" instead of "thing".

(Walt)> Then he put the Tofino firewall in the line between the network and the PLC, and the PLC absolutely disappeared to the blackhat software.

That's what a firewall does. I think the Tofino device is a cool thing - it allows a PLC type who has no idea what he's doing with networking or security to provide some amount of protection to the plant floor - an innovative idea. However, a good IT department would do better. Worst case they could work with you on configuring that device, and actually understand what's going on. "

became:
"The TofinoTM device is a cool thing - it allows a PLC type who has no idea what he's doing with networking or security to provide protection to the plant floor - an innovative idea."

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hahaha... I love when companies use quotes without permission, especially out of context. Kinda interesting that they couldn't get actual testimonials from people who, I don't know, actually *used* their product?

Hopefully if things go really well you won't need to do much, your blog will get picked up and come back in all their search hits. Of course, I don't think you're pullin' quite that much traffic yet :-P