Chief Financial Officers Should Take Responsibility for All Data Security, Says Vormetric's Teruel

Market Wire, July, 2007

Chief financial officers should bear ultimate responsibility for protecting the vital data and information residing within their organizations. No executive is better positioned than the CFO to take charge of this critical function, maintains Frank Teruel, chief financial officer of data security provider Vormetric, Inc.

Teruel challenges the conventional thinking of many CFOs, senior management teams, and boards of directors in the initial posting to Data Security and Compliance , a new blog published by Vormetric. Data pirates are getting more sophisticated all the time, but too many companies are lethargic in their defensive efforts and prefer to portray themselves as victims, he writes.

Most organizations have traditionally delegated responsibility for deciding what data needs protection to members of its IT staff. But according to Teruel the CFO is the one who is best able to qualify and quantify the inherent value of data, determine where in the enterprise that sensitive data lives, and calculate potential costs associated with breaches. The CFO is also best suited to take charge of strengthening the organization's internal control environment to ensure that all vital information remains secure.

"One of my colleagues is fond of saying that the responsibility for data security moved up from the server room to the board room after so many horrendous breaches and data thefts took place in 2006. It's painfully obvious to executives that having your company's intellectual property stolen or your customers' data copied by thieves can be ruinous to your brand," said Teruel, Vormetric's financial vice president and CFO.

"However, it's clear that not everybody in the board room or the executive suite yet knows what to do with their new data security responsibility. Nor, apparently, do all of the experts seem to get it. Just this past week, I saw a security survey from one of the leading analyst firms. It listed nine possible choices for primary responsibility for data security. The CFO was not mentioned. That's a glaring omission, in my opinion. It shows a lack of understanding, both of how business works and of the inherent responsibility of CFOs to protect and preserve corporate assets."

Vormetric's CoreGuard solution helps protect the vital data of some of the most prolific and valuable global brands. The company's clients include federal government and intelligence agencies as well as Fortune 500 companies in the financial services, retail, media, aerospace and automotive industries. Vormetric also holds patents for three key data protection technologies that are components of CoreGuard. Its highly regarded encryption technology is used exclusively by Symantec in the security giant's Veritas NetBackup solution.

About Vormetric

Vormetric ( www.vormetric.com ) is a leading provider of solutions for protecting enterprise information from unauthorized access or theft. The company's CoreGuard system is a single, scalable and manageable system for data privacy and protection that enables businesses and government agencies to control who, what, when, where and how people can access sensitive information. CoreGuard protects intellectual property and enables enterprises to comply with increasingly strict data privacy and system integrity regulations. Founded in 2001, Vormetric is a privately held company with headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

PR Contacts: Karissa Brown Vormetric 408 961 2502 Email: Email Contact Tom Burke Graber Associates LLC for Vormetric 617 323 5694 Email: Email Contact Vormetric, Inc. 3131 Jay Street Santa Clara, CA 95054 (408) 961-6100 www.vormetric.com