Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:15:05 +0000
From: "SilentRunner" <silentrunner@...hmail.com>
To: <full-disclosure@...ts.grok.org.uk>
Cc: 
Subject: Re: [Professional IT Security Providers -
	Exposed] Audit Serve, Inc. ( F- )

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So, because I disagree strongly with your actions I must be the
subject of your review?

Clearly, your progenitors were swimming in the shallow end of the
gene pool when they set about screwing your sorry excuse for a
brain into existence.

You obviously didn't understand the salient points of my reponse,
so lets try it again:

. It is perfectly possible to create a complex system and offer it
to customers cheaply, even if the volumes are not enough to cover
ones costs. This is known as loss leading, and as I explained, is a
reasonable way to upsell more comprehensive and therefore more
costly services. This sort of thing is Sales and Marketing 101 and
should be quite obvious to even your neuron-challenged grey-matter.

. You gave an F for poor quality service (your words), without
buying a service. QED.

It is quite obvious that the "we" you refer to is just you and the
reviews you are purporting to offer are simply a transparent way of
getting something published to help you apply for a job. So, with
that in mind, consider this:

What potential employer is going to consider your "published
works", when the entire (mercifully so far only one) collection is
to be reviews of goods and services you have not actually seen or
received.

At this point, the unutterable stupidity of this is so monumental
that a cogent analogy of the requisite gravity escapes me.

Finally, your last quote is priceless:

"Not even sure why people would use your service instead of going
direct to Qualys."

It's called re-selling. Go back to school skiddie, you have no
place here and no place in the trade.

SR


On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:07:03 +0000 SecReview
<secreview@...hmail.com> wrote:
>It is not highly possible that they have developed a high quality
>automated tool that covers all the basis because their price
>points
>are not high enough to afford them a good development team. In
>conjunction, they clearly advertise the use of QualysGuard all
>over
>their website which is not their own tool.
>
>It is more likely that they are a "rubber stamp shop of approval"
>that make a buck by enabling their customers to put a "check in
>the
>box". Frankly, thats not security, thats even a a disservice. They

>
>are for all intents and purposes selling a false sense of security

>
>to customers who don't know any better.
>
>That said, I'd have to guess that you are Mitchell H. Levine as
>you've taken this post so personally. If you are, then why don't
>you improve the quality of your service offerings so that we can
>give you a better review. As it stands, you've received an F-
>because of the poor quality of your service. Not even sure why
>people would use your service instead of going direct to Qualys.
>
>Cheers
>
>
>
>
>
>On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:39:48 -0500 SilentRunner
><silentrunner@...hmail.com> wrote:
>>Are you an idiot?
>>
>>It is certainly more than possible that Audit Serve are a low
>>quality one-size-fits-all merchant. It is also equally possible
>>that they have developed a high quality automated tool that
>covers
>>all the basics and provides them a lead to upsell more advanced
>>services. That's business, you get what you pay for.
>>
>>You don't know because you read their website with the critical
>>eye
>>of a self-important nerd, trying to be something you aren't (IE
>>professional). You might as well write a car review by reading
>the
>>financial reports of the car manufacturer.
>>
>>What you should have done at the very least is purchased their
>>service and asked them to test elements of your pre-configured
>and
>>properly baselined honey-net against known criteria. I'm guessing
>>that your student loan doesn't stretch beyond partying or you
>>might
>>have produced something useful, muppet.
>>
>>SR
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:46:59 +0000 secreview
>><secreview@...hmail.com> wrote:
>>>We found Audit Serve, Inc., run by Mitchell H. Levine, by
>>>searching
>>>for "Penetration Testing" on Google. Audit Serve, Inc. offers,
>IS
>>>Auditing, Integrated Auditing, Sarbanes-Oxley Implementation
>>>Services,
>>>Sarbanes-Oxley Ongoing Compliance Services, PCI, Security
>>>andInternet
>>>Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing Services.Our
>first
>>>impression of Audit Serve, Inc. was that they were a "rubber
>>stamp
>>
>>>of
>>>approval" shop that offers services that will do nothing to
>truly
>>>raise
>>>your proverbial security bar but will let you fill in your
>>>security
>>>checklist. This impression was made so quickly because of the
>>>$495.00
>>>price quote on their main page. It reads "Internet Vulnerability
>>>Assessment & Penetration Testing starting at $495". (Just as an
>>>FYI, it
>>>is impossible to perform any human driven professional security
>>>services for that price. The cost of talent is simply too
>>>high.)When
>>>digging into their services we quickly realize that our initial
>>>impression of Audit Serve was accurate. They are in fact a
>>"rubber
>>>stamp of approval" shop. Their security service deliverables
>>>appear to
>>>be the product of automated scanners (QualysGuard) and not the
>>>product
>>>of human talent. This also coincides with them being able to
>>>offer "Internet Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing"
>>>services starting at $495, as no human element is incorporated
>>>into the
>>>deliverable based on what we saw.If you do not care about the
>>>security
>>>of your IT Infrastructure, and only want to get the "rubber
>stamp
>>>of
>>>approval" then Audit Serve, Inc. is your one stop shop. If on
>the
>>>other
>>>hand you do care about the security of your IT infrastructure,
>>>then
>>>we'd suggest finding a different provider.Grade Note:We're
>giving
>>>Audit
>>>Serve an F- for two reasons. The first reason is that they
>appear
>>>to be
>>>in the Information Security business to make a buck by providing
>>>people
>>>with the "rubber stamp of approval". In doing so they are
>>actually
>>>doing a disservice to the IT community, and the IT Security
>>>Community.
>>>The second reason why we are giving them an F- is because their
>>>security services appear to use no human element and rely
>>strictly
>>
>>>on
>>>automated scanning (QualysGuard). If you feel that this grade is
>>>too
>>>harsh, let us know.
>>>
>>>--
>>>Posted By secreview to Professional IT Security Providers -
>>>Exposed at
>>>12/17/2007 10:28:00 AM
>Regards,
>      The Secreview Team
>      http://secreview.blogspot.com
>      Professional IT Security Service Providers - Exposed
>
>--
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