"Unbreakable" software? Oracle needs to watch the hyperbole

Oracle has been spouting about its "unbreakable" database and "unbreakable" application server platform for a few weeks now.

As a statement of fact it is, quite clearly, untrue. As a marketing tag line it is - let's not mince words - plainly ridiculous.

And that is not to say anything against Oracle's record on security or the quality of the software designers working on its applications. By the testimony of penetration testers Oracle does take security seriously, and reacts promptly and in a measured fashion.

But no software can be guaranteed as 100 per cent secure, especially not software as complex as Oracle's database platform, with all its attendant applications.

This is not a judgement on Oracle. It's just a fact.

It's easy to see what Oracle is trying to do by claiming this. Microsoft has been hammered in the last year for security fault after security fault.

Larry Ellison is clearly trying to polarise the debate, with Bill Gates at one end and him smiling at the other.

One can even afford a wry grin at the barefaced cheek of trying to get IT departments to run Outlook on the Oracle platform. However, playing to the gallery doesn't really help anyone.

The danger is that some people may actually believe this tag line. This subject is too important to be the subject of such marketing games. If an IT director thinks all he has to do to keep his company secure from hackers is move to Oracle, he could end up in big trouble.

There are many who don't understand how vital good IT security is, and with this Oracle is trying to feed on that ignorance.

We all get fed marketing lines, and we all have our own BS radars to filter out most of the crap safely. But sometimes you have to draw the line.

It's one of those instances when you have to turn round and tell the industry to grow up and be responsible.