CLEAR's customer no-service

CLEARly incompetent - that's how I rate @CLEAR Wireless' customer service. I signed up for their service about 6 weeks ago. It actually works pretty well. Great download speeds and so-so upload speeds. Still, overall, WiMax is an amazing technology.

As much as I liked it I just couldn't bear the slow upload speeds so I decided to take the hit on the two months of service I prepaid for and cancel my service. According to their return policy I have the right to return the wireless modem within 30 days so I took them up on that.

I first went to a CLEAR store in the mall but the gentleman there said I needed to call their 888 number and have them send me a "shipping label". So I did...First I spoke with Karen (who, by the way, was not aware of their return policy and wanted me to fax her a copy of their policy - funny). I called back the next day as instructed and spoke with Jeanette...She was going to send out the return mailing label. About two days passed and nothing.

I had to call back and spoke with Patty in customer no-service who assured me that my mailing label was on its way. I *finally* received this elusive mailing label and low and behold it wasn't valid. After spending 3-4 days going back and forth with UPS they realized that the mailing label wasn't valid because it had already been used. UPS told me to contact the shipper. You can imagine how pleased I was to find that out. :)

So I called CLEAR's customer no-service and spoke with Rob again....This was on Friday, nearly 4 days ago. He proceeded to ask me about the problem I had with their service...Huh uh, I wasn't going down that path again. He then wanted me to give him the MAC address of the modem I was returning. I didn't have it with me at the time and politely asked that he go ahead and send out another label. Rob assured me he was going to send one out - it would go out within the next 2 hours and I'd have it within 24 hours he said.

Guess what folks?? No label. Holy moly! Here I am 12 days later and I *still* have the darned modem. U-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-l-e. Given that I've put ~3 hours of my time in returning this device I would've been better off just throwing it out the window...or donating it....or smashing it with a sledgehammer.

Perhaps a chargeback is in order...Or maybe I should write to their VP of Customer No-Service. I'm running out of ways to get their attention. Simply amazing....

Thinking about CLEAR? Buyer beware! Pretty good Internet access; awful, awful, awful handling of (former) customers.

Unless and until CLEAR can prove to be better than Comcast and AT&T at customer service (that wouldn't take much), they'll continue on in their wayward ways.

For now though, steer clear of CLEAR, seriously.

Oh, if anyone from CLEAR is reading this: Just send me my darned mailing label and we can be done with this.

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Disaster recovery & security plus e-discovery & records management

Here are some recent articles I wrote for TechTarget's SearchDisasterRecovery.com and SearchCompliance.com on the relationships between DR planning and information security as well as records management and the dreaded e-discovery process. Serving as an expert witness on various information security cases, I can assure you that you'll want to be prepared for both - especially the latter:

Disaster recovery security: The importance of addressing data security issues in DR plans

Leaning on records management can soften the angst of e-discovery

Enjoy...

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My upcoming information security speaker roadshow

Thanks to TechTarget and CDW starting this month I'm embarking on an 11 city speaking tour across the U.S. Along with my colleague Pete Lindstrom, we'll be speaking/ranting about all sorts of network security and data protection stuff including:

Embedding Security into the Network—Building Defense in Depth

• Securing your Presence at the Perimeter: Contrary to Popular Belief, you do still have a Network Perimeter
• Locking Down Server and Workstation Operating Systems: A Critical Component of Your Network Security Strategy
• Mobile Security Blunders and What You Can Do About Them

Data Protection and DLP—Compliance and Technology Update

• Weighing Information Asset Value and Risk to the Organization
• Making the Case for an Investment in Data Loss / Leakage Prevention
• Leveraging the Benefits of Encryption and Rights Management

I hope you can join us at these no-cost events...it should be both informative and fun. Check it all out and register here.

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Data breach statistics show that problems still exist

Have you checked out the Chronology of Data Breaches lately?

...Very interesting stats on known data breaches. I peruse the site through every now and then and it seems that every time I do there's an organization that 1) I've done business with (for personal stuff) or 2) as in the case of MicroBilt Corporation's breach posted last week they're right down the road from me.

Does the six degrees of separation law apply to data breaches as well?

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Two career essentials: time management & hands-on experience

If I had to choose two things that IT and information security pros need to focus on more than anything else, it'd be learning how to manage your time and continually fine-tuning your technical skills.

Well here are two pieces I wrote for SearchWinIT.com that that delve into these topics:

Time management strategies for the IT pro

Low-cost ways to get the IT skills you need

...learn these skills and practice them over and over again and you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish in your career.

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My roundtable tomorrow on the state of IT compliance

Join me and my colleagues/friends Becky Herold (The Privacy Professor) and Scott Woodison (security manager extraordinaire) on Focus.com tomorrow at 2pm ET where we'll be talking about:

• Compliance vs. managing information risks - there is a difference
• Common compliance-related mistakes
• Recent changes to information security and privacy regulations and how they affect you
• Recommendations on what your business can do to get its arms around the compliance beast
  

It'll be laid back yet informative...we'll no doubt leave you with some things to be thinking about and some tips for dealing with compliance once and for all.

Here's the link for more info and to register (no-charge to participate):

http://www.focus.com/events/information-technology/focus-it-roundtable-state-it-compliance-whats-working-and-wh/

See you there!

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The real numbers behind lost laptops

Here's a recent piece I wrote for my friends at SearchCompliance.com regarding the lost laptop problem and what it's costing businesses:

The Billion Dollar Lost Laptop – What’s it costing your business?

I've seen some naysayers out there stating that there's no way a lost laptop could match up to Ponemon's figures. I say why find out!? Whatever the cost, the solutions for laptop security are simple once the choice is made to keep them in check.

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