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

There's an old saw in the IT business that the only completely secure system is one that is disconnected from a network, encased in concrete, and lying at the bottom of the ocean. Because that's an impractical goal for most of us, the next best thing is to ensure that your systems are protected at a level that befits the data on tthem.

Obviously, security starts at the physical level. Your gear may be housed in the strongest bunker since Hitler's Chancellery, but there's more to security than gates, guards, and guns. Knowing who goes in and out of the server room -- and when -- is the difference between controlling access and simply handing

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