I thought those 'free security audit' offers were just a sales trap until one actually found a real problem.

A vendor kept emailing me about a free website security check for our small firm in Boise. I ignored it for months, thinking it was just a trick to get a meeting. Finally gave in last week out of curiosity. They ran a scan and sent a report showing an open port on our dev server I had totally forgotten about. It was a legit find that could have been a problem. How do you guys sort the real value from the noise in these marketing offers?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_xena4d ago

Honestly that's a solid find, good thing you checked. Tbh I always look for specifics in those emails first - did they mention a real tool or just vague promises? Also, what did they ask for after sending the report, was it a hard sell or more of a heads up?

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joel_hall174d ago

Funny you ask about the hard sell. Got a similar email last month that mentioned a specific scanning tool by name, looked almost legit. The follow-up was this weirdly friendly "check-in" that quickly turned into a calendar link for a demo with their "security team." Total bait and switch.

the_william4d ago

My buddy got one of those emails with a real tool name and everything. They sent a scary looking report and then called it a "courtesy follow up" that was just a salesperson pushing a contract. It's all the same playbook once you see it.