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Preventing Internal Security Breaches

July 14th, 2006 · No Comments


Security is always on the minds of system administrators. As Intranets have evolved from glorified Data Protection1.jpgonline cafeteria menus and corporate memos to robust information portals and mission critical applications, the bar has been raised to protect the castle from critters and other unwanted spooks that go bump in the night.

Most of the focus tends to be on protecting the enterprise from external threats and the seemingly scary world at large. However, a study commissioned by the Computing Technology Industry Association Inc. (CompTIA) in 2005 found that 60 percent of the surveyed company’s security breaches could be attributed to human error, 20 percent to technical malfunctions, and the remainder to a combination of the two (1). Perhaps we are spending too much time keeping the wolves out of the hen house when it is in fact a few bad hens causing the greatest threat and loss to our organizations.

There are many tangible ways to protect the organization from external threats. In fact an entire discipline within the information technology (IT) field is dedicated to security, and products abound to keep us safe from viruses and unwanted attacks on our systems. Firewalls, anti-spyware, virus protection, authentication systems for the remote worker — the list of potential threats and solution providers is almost endless. But, who and what are protecting us from ourselves? Preventing Internal Security Breaches

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