Guest post from Mike Mason, Senior Product Marketing Manager, FairWarning.

FairWarning is an ISV Salesforce partner – and here are 5 things everybody should know about us.

Kurt J. Long founded FairWarning after his own experience with a data breach.

Years ago, as founder and young CEO of the information security company OpenNetwork, Kurt was approached by the FBI after false information about a celebrity lawyer was sent from their network to a local radio personality, who read the information on-air to listeners. They needed to quickly determine where the leak originated, and whether they had somebody dangerous on staff. For three days, their key IT person – we’ll call him “Ken” – worked around the clock to investigate IP addresses and delve into all types of audit logs, painstakingly piecing together that the breach had come from an insider named “Don.” After this experience, Kurt realized the market needed a “Magic Button” that a business-minded person could push – one that would help organizations grow trust in their workforce while verifying that their access is above board. No other industry needed this more than the healthcare industry, due to the vast amount of sensitive data involved in patient care. FairWarning started there, monitoring electronic health record systems (EHRs) and other applications containing patient information. We introduced FairWarning for Salesforce in 2015 as a way for all types of organizations – not just healthcare – to unlock the information hidden in complex Salesforce Shield audit logs.

(EFD – Creating a product from a personal experience…I bet that’s how a lot of AppExchange partners go their start!)

FairWarning’s vision is to grow trust in an increasingly interconnected world.

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, consumer trust in businesses has plummeted. As headlines of security breaches make their way to our news feeds nearly every day, citizens may feel that the organizations holding their most sensitive data care little about the security of that data. Everything that FairWarning does, from product upgrades to educating customers, is designed to help our customers grow that trust, both internally and with customers.

(EFD – All of us in the Salesforce Ohana understand the value of Trust.)

We want all business-minded users to have full visibility into Salesforce user activity – not just data scientists.

“Ken” from OpenNetwork spent three days combing through those audit logs to track down the origin of one leak. Had the FBI not notified Kurt of the leak, the company may have never known anything happened. FairWarning delivers that visibility by translating complex audit logs (e.g., Salesforce Shield Event Monitoring) into simplified, actionable insights and proactive alerts on specific user behavior. We believe everybody should have visibility into their cloud applications without having to turn to a data scientist to interpret the information within the applications’ audit logs. And we believe in providing a product that works when you need it most.

(EFD – Putting the power into the users’ hands!)

We work closely with Salesforce.com product development to help our customers unlock the full value of Salesforce and Shield.

Because visibility for all is so important to us, we are in constant contact with Salesforce.com product development and marketing to ensure that our customers’ voices are being heard within the Salesforce ecosystem. We have helped drive enhancements to Event Monitoring logs, and are currently working with a group of customers on real-time monitoring. In fact, our Dreamforce ‘18 messaging is “Empowering You to Take Shield to the Next Level.” We are a true partner for Salesforce and our customers, in every sense of the word.

(EFD – Be sure to visit with FairWarning while you are at Dreamforce!)

We are inspired by global adventure.

FairWarning’s values include “Growth,” and we’re inspired by challenges and adventures. For many years, we’ve had an internal Flag Program, where employees take a FairWarning Flag on their travels and submit photos of themselves in amazing locales (over 40 countries to date!). Recently, we opened the Flag Program to any customer who would like to take a piece of FairWarning with them. And FairWarning CEO/Creator Kurt J. Long is currently making his way across the Mediterranean for the 2018 Virgin Strive Challenge. The Challenge benefits Big Change, which works to give young people essential skills, opportunities, and support to grow within themselves and change the world. The five-stage challenge includes a duathlon across Sardinia, hike on Corsica, five-day cycling arm through the Southern Alps, Alpine hike, and scaling of Europe’s tallest mountain, Mont Blanc.

(EFD – Wow! Now that’s a view that needs no warning!)