Complaint Review: Radfordson Technology Inc.

I am the Chief Technical Officer for a leading e-commerce business. My company achieved success quicker than we had anticipated and found the need for a new hosting solution that would be able to support our extremely large user base. I have been in the internet industry for a long time and have used many hosting services in the past. For this website I decided to trust the company currently called Radfordson Technology Inc. They used to go by another name, and they changed their name shortly after ruining my company. I assume they're trying to build a new reputation with this new name... I should have investigated their history a bit better.

I thought that Radfordson was the best choice for a server intensive website. I took a tour of RTI's data center and was (naively) sold by their commitment to service and many years of relevant experience.

I had a positive business relation with RTI for almost a year. I had many meetings with their CTO, Nicholas Bentworth, and was reassured of their security policies many times. Along with the standard software and hardware security measures they also had the physical premises locked and guarded at all times. Our contract guaranteed that only Nick Bentworth and employees added to my company's secure list and I were allowed entry. This secure list was called the C.A.L (Customer Access List) system and was maintained and operated by RTI. It was only editable by myself. The list was accessible remotely by a secure connection through their website. The interface was encrypted and the password changed at regular intervals. Anytime anyone entered our secured room I was immediately notified by Nick.

Sometime between September 1st, 2007 and December 31st, 2007 their promotional website was compromised. I was not alerted about this and was unaware a problem had even occurred. This was a major concern because their website acts as the portal to the CAL system.

Starting around September 15th, 2007 my company started receiving a high number of customer complaints about erroneous charges to their accounts. The problem quickly escalated and customers started to file formal charges against my company, claiming they we victims of identity theft.

After ruining many customers relationships, I started a full scale investigation into the cause of the compromised data. I checked paper logs sent to my company by Radfordson Tech and saw no unexpected entries. I called Nicholas Bentworth and he assured me their had been no security breaches.

Eventually, my company hired a independent firm to investigate our catastrophe. Threatening legal action the independent firm uncovered electronic backup logs from RTI's offsite archive that documented someone had been added to the CAL system. RT Inc. had failed to verify this addition with me. The backup logs also documented that someone using the credentials added to the CAL system had been allowed to enter our secured site. Again, I was not contacted when this happened.

None of this information was present in the logs RTI had sent us. It is clear they knew about the breach and tried to cover it up. I met with Nick Bentworth. He denied the entire event and had the audacity to blame me for his error. Distraught, I met with Michael Lunderber (CEO) and Allison Hembrey-Wallace (Corporate President). They denied the catastrophe and argued it was not their responsibility.

As a result of contractual agreements with RTI we are unable to take them to court. This entire experience has been disheartening and eye opening. Radfordson Technology should not be trusted. RTI's executives only act with themselves in mind. DO NOT BE FOOLED. RTI will rip you off if they see the opportunity.

Radfordson Technologies Inc. and its employees, Mike Lunderber, Ally Hembrey-Walace and Nick Bentworth:

Failed to provide basic security on their main site.

Allowed unauthorized entry into our contractually sealed room.

Edited security logs in an attempt to cover up their mistake.

Failed to take responsibility for their enormous mistake that led to thousands of victims of identity theft.
I hope by writing this report that everyone in this industry who doesn't know me will learn from my experience with Radfordson Technology. They are not the secure company that they appear to be. Don't be fooled. It could cost you your business.

Alexxsmith
Boca Raton, Florida
U.S.A.