Mandatory disclosure for companies selling IT security solutions

The rise in cyberattacks and the proliferation of security products to safeguard against these attacks seem to be directly proportional. Data breaches, loss of personally identifiable information, cyber-attacks and hacking by nefarious elements continue to make the headlines despite IT security companies churning out solutions that claim to protect against them. It is high time IT security companies selling to consumers utilized both truth and honesty as part of clear and growing need for more transparent security disclosure. In the context of software security, transparent disclosure involves informing consumers about the actual threats to security and privacy a given solution can actually thwart. Honest disclosure is a much higher hurdle, as it also requires noting those threats that a given solution cannot effectively address.

Transparency is a term that tends to be overused and because of that, it has lost some of its intrinsic meaning. Transparency to us means that something is easily recognized, detected or obvious. Most people would agree that transparency is required in nearly every aspect of our lives; at work, in relationships and with companies we give our money to. Transparency earns trust and loyalty and as such, people both respect and expect transparency in their dealings with others.