The Land of a Thousand Twist-Ties

Have you unpacked a children’s toy set, game, doll things or any kid’s play thing that has several pieces recently? My 5 year old got a big box with a baby doll, her bassinette, bottle, baby food, rattles, and the other accessories any new born and mommy may need to care for the infant. I’ve this noticed before but trying to take, rather unlatch all the stuff included is a major task. Every little item was so secured to the inner packaging that it took me several minutes to untie, clip, cut and otherwise unshackle the items from the box. Everything was locked down with either thick twist-ties or those plastic things with the ‘T’ on both ends – you know the ones where if it’s stuck to the item, you cut one end and shove the other end inside the item, never to seen again. And just when you think you’ve got them all and ready to pull everything out, there’s always one more hidden one that snags the escape….and the adult’s patience. This packaging, this method of securing toys sure makes getting to the toys a challenge. There sometimes comes a point where you just want to rip it right out but you know it’ll damage the toy along with the kid’s excitement watching each accessory painstakingly extricated from the box. And don’t get me started on those blister wrap packages – it’s like they soldered them closed and you need a chainsaw or a blowtorch just to open it.

Of course, this got me thinking. These companies go to great lengths to secure the items within the packaging system. Not only to keep them in place for a nice display but to also keep them from getting lifted in the store. Each item is locked down from different angles at multiple points. They are secured to the packaging and each other. The twist-ties are wrapped in ways that I never thought they could. The plastic ties are just strong enough to require a scissors or some hardened tool in some cases. You can’t just snap it with your fingers and if you yank it, it might break, rip or otherwise damage the item it is holding. It takes time to get to the good stuff. It’s layered security.

Think about your own home. People put locks, alarms and guard dogs to protect their house - they invest in layered security - and they feel safe, confident and don't worry about their valuable or sensitive possessions. But when it comes to protecting data, systems and infrastructure, some might think that maybe one solution in one area will stop an intruder. It is often difficult to quantify Information Security business value and ‘didn’t get attacked' doesn’t always equate to some monetary savings. Often it is avoiding things like negative press, breaking customer loyalty/trust, damaging brand reputation, failing regulatory compliance, downtime and so forth. Security is often thought of as insurance and the business value is not necessarily measured in dollars and cents....until you are exposed. The real value is avoiding all of the above. What would be the business value to any of the recent breached companies if they had not been hacked? The value is keeping the people (users and employees) and business safe. The value is comfort, confidence and compliance. It’s not that you need multiple twist-ties at every segment of your infrastructure but dated, static devices cannot protect against evolving, dynamic threats. Protect your systems and your business with solutions that are adaptable, intelligent and provide the secure, strategic point of control for your application delivery infrastructure.

Security is not only about risk mitigation/management but security is also Peace of Mind. Knowing that stuff is protected and secure; knowing that the infrastructure will be available and scale; knowing that if something bad does happen, that the proper mechanisms are in place to mitigate the damage. Plus, intruders will need more than scissors to play with their toys.

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Published Jun 29, 2011

Version 1.0