Watch Ma .. A Blog Fight!

Always a suckler for a good blog fight! A subject is a bit dumb (“Is security a cost center?”), but still, this one is fun to watch:

1. McAfee, who should know better, starts it: “Is information security compliance really a cost center?” - “No. Absolutely and unequivocally not. I am drawing the line in the sand.” Read the rest here, even though it gets t sound pretty darn stupid at times (example: “ … makes it obvious that it is better and more efficient to be compliant as a business” – uhu… go tell it to all the small businesses trying to avoid PCI DSS)
2. First, Hoff kicks them in the balls (in their comments, no less): “If security compliance isn’t a cost center, are you then suggesting it’s a profit generator? So on the balance sheet it shows up as a revenue generator or profit center?”
3. Next, enlightened-not-insane Mike Rothman dropkicks them in “Compliance is SO a cost center” – “OMG. I figured a big company like McAfee would have a drug testing policy, but evidently not. I want some of what this guy is on” and even “A "Compliance Driven Company" is the next Heartland or TJX”, “CEOs don't care about security or compliance” and – fun! – “And even better, they don't want to spend money on avoiding either of those cases because it's not going to happen to them. Seriously. They see the headlines, they ask some questions about whether they are "secure," the CSO lies to them, and they go back to their mahogany conference room and check on the sales numbers.” He then ends with “Like I said, Little Red needs to check what's in this guy's water bottle. It ain't water.“
4. Finally, Pete runs, jumps in the air and lands on the McAfee guy ("Security Insights Draws Security Incite"): “It is entirely misleading to suggest that "information security compliance" is NOT a cost center. That smacks of a misunderstanding of exactly what a cost center is.” He then again jumps and lands with “I have a HUGE problem with this statement: "...a good business leader needs no justification to do to the right thing." It is so laced with b.s. that the cows are lining up in the barn waiting their turn.”

Enjoy! This whole thing makes me so want to kick them too, but I think there is a law against kicking the dead horse or something :-)

Also, this sooo reminds me of the ROI wars last year.

I will add to it, if this grows.