A matrix of the data documents the product's strengths and vulnerabilities. Garland estimates that his firm has tested more than 20 security products. Security concepts are also examined in the company's laboratories. Researchers regularly explore innovative approaches and test them for other businesses or organizations. Because security is a sensitive issue, Houston maintains the confidentiality of its clients both inside and outside of its laboratory setting.
Many customers enlist the company's services after an attack has threatened their systems.
They fear that widespread knowledge of an attack would affect the credibility of their systems security or spawn attacks from other intruders. Perhaps one of the most pressing issues in information security is the legal aspect of security concerns. Tracing attacks could violate the law, so industry and government officials are faced with determining how far they can go legally to find and retaliate against network intruders. What constitutes a malicious hack still has not been precisely defined from a legal standpoint. Some of the products that Houston has tested provide source and destination Internet protocol information about hackers, and this is considered fair game, according to Garland.