The Admin, Bean Counter & Manager

It was a quiet day at work, when The Admin reads of a new threat poised to wreak havoc on networks world wide. Being the good admin, she spends some time researching the threat, and proposing a solution, with full redundancy. She then schedules a meeting with her manager and the bean counter. The bean counter immediately requests the system is cut to it's bare minimum, The Manager, who is happy that a solution exists, recommends not doing anything until it's necessary.

Sound familiar?

-- Tim Krabec
KRACOMP

Proactive

You know who these people are, they are the ones working late or coming in early to try something out or to look into an issue where something just does not "feel right". These people are the ones reading the journals, researching online, being active with their peers, listening to details, I could go on for a while, but you get the picture. Being proactive takes effort, the ability to plan, visualize, to create contingency plans, and to realize that stuff will go wrong. Being proactive also means being able to see keep things in perspective and see the big picture and never willingly walking into a situation with out as much knowledge as possible.

Being a proactive Administrator or Security Coordinator, means visiting hacking sites, learning about social engineering, learning about best practices, learning how to communicate effectively with upper management or the board. Developing or implementing policies and procedures, being replaceable and promotable, some people believe that if they are indispensable they cannot be fired or replaced easily, and while this may be true it also means that they cannot be promoted or go on a vacation. Actively seeking and maintaining contacts in various departments of your organization, allows you or your people to keep abreast of problems while they are still small, to create effective training programs and materials.

-- Tim Krabec
Kracomp