15 January 2004

Dear Dave,

This letter expresses our sincere congratulations to you on the publication of your fiftieth LiveSecurity editorial.

We're grateful for what you have contributed to the LiveSecurity Service in more than four years, and what you've added to the greater security of WatchGuard customers. It would be impossible to fully express the value of your contribution, but here are some highlights well worth noting:

q       Over four years of technical writing to an audience of tens of thousands of IT directors and system administrators, without a single assertion found incorrect. (Knowing how argumentative geeks can be, this in itself is amazing!)

q       Authoritative coverage of a breathtaking spectrum of subjects, from home user-related topics to enterprise-related topics; from specific VPN parameters, to abstract networking concepts; from "Mugsy" to "Bob" (characters you invented; respectively, an attacker planning a cyberheist, and a remote office user who knows less about firewalls than he thinks he does).

q       Every editorial turned in on time, or, if delayed, with plenty of warning so we could plan and maintain a consistent publishing schedule for our readers

q       Hundreds of e-mails from approving customers, contributing to a LiveSecurity Service subscription renewal rate in excess of 70 percent

During your tenure thus far, our readership has more than tripled. You are one of the main reasons we can claim to have world-class security experts writing for us. Working with you is a true pleasure, and we hope we create at least fifty more articles together. Again, congratulations on a great milestone!

Warmly,

Steve Fallin 

Director, Rapid Response Team    

Scott Pinzon 

LiveSecurity Lead Editor      

Shari McLaren

Director, LiveSecurity Service

WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.