Security protects bottom line

COMPUTER SECURITY means different things to different people. To someone trained in physical security concepts, the computer is secure as long as it's behind a locked door. To a system administrator, security depends on installing the patches for known security holes in the applications and the OS. To your customers, security means that personal or sensitive data won't be available to every 15-year-old with a Linux box and some hacking tools. But no matter your perspective, one thing is for sure: Security is going to be an IT hot button for as long as computers are networked.

The cost of beefing up security may seem like a tough sell during the current economic downturn. But companies that fail to ensure security may not be around long enough to learn from their mistakes. After all, the true cost of a security breach is not the overtime your emergency response team racks up or the potential fines and litigation expenses; what really hurts is the loss of confidence and goodwill that follow.

Preventing security issues from knocking your business for a loop isn't easy, but it doesn't have to be overwhelming either. Rather than tackling everything at once, the best strategy is to determine where the greatest vulnerabilities are and address those problems first.

Start with the basics

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