IT Systems Security

IT Systems Security

The importance of IT Systems Security is steadily growing at both the corporate and government levels.  The real threat of damage to our digital infrastructure  grows daily as computer systems grow more complex.  Intrusions can happen from a world away or from your next door neighbor.   As the world becomes more interconnected and more devices go online, IT Systems security issues becomes a major consideration for businesses and individuals alike.

Determining where the greatest threat is going to come is almost impossible so constant vigilance and robust safeguards are required.   Luckily, there are many options to choose from when considering IT systems security solutions.

Threats to IT Systems Security

There are three major categories of threat that each need to be addressed in a slightly different way.

1. Careless Insiders

Many of the problems that occur with IT Systems Security aren’t actually created intentionally. Instead, they result from people using their workplace computers in the same careless ways that they would use their computers at home. They access sites which are insecure, download files from unknown sources, and open links without making sure that they really go to the site that they expect. Dealing with this category of threat requires investing in educating the workforce so that they understand the purpose of security rules and the reason procedures need to be followed.

2. Hostile Insiders

In contrast to those insiders who don’t mean any harm, there are also times when IT Systems Security will be threatened by insiders who specifically intend to do it. This may happen because they believe that they can take information from the company and sell it or leverage it to get a position with a rival company. It can also occur when a company insider becomes angry at the company due to a change in policy or a layoff. Common ways of dealing with this issue include making sure that all activity on the system is logged and periodically requiring employees to take time off and out of the office so that no single person can ever have exclusive continuous control of a resource.

3. Hostile Outsiders

This is the category that most people think about when they consider IT Systems Security. These are the people who, whether they’re criminal or just curious, will try to illicitly gain access from the outside. The primary way of addressing this issue is by maintaining a good security perimeter between the outside world and important network systems.

IT Systems Security requires vigilance

Only by working to ensure that all three of these categories are addressed can a system be secure. It is important that these three categories of IT Systems security threats be addressed separately because they present themselves in very different ways.