Program Maturity - Cyber-security and Operational Risk Maturity

The Balancing Act

In reviewing my LinkedIn notifications I was wonderfully surprised to find  an article written by Gideon T. Rasmussen, VCISO topic: Cyber-Security and Operational Risk Maturity.  As soon as I saw it I was thinking this is center to our consulting business I better pay attention. So here we go.

As Gideon T. Rasmussen comments on leveraging risk I immediately get hooked.  How can you even begin to understand your operational and situational awareness with out at first understanding your risk.  At Integris Security we advise our clients if not done within the past twelve months get a solid risk assessment done ASAP!  This risk assessment can then help you set priorities, establish tactical and strategic budgeting, technology goals and priorities and help you weigh your operational risk.  We at Integris believe this will improve the overall maturity of your cyber and operational approach.  But let's go on and see what else Rasmussen's nicely laid out article reveals.

Rasmussen's talks about U.S. Department of Commerce's,  N.I.S.T. (National Institute for Science and Technology).  For a great many of us in the IT security practice N.I.S.T. for years has been the go to "tool shed" for in-depth building blocks.  Their publications can take you from the very beginning of ....   What should I do? Where do I start? To a polished well informed presentation.   N.I.S.T. has a great many publications and they are 100% free.

The F.F.I.E.C., also provides great free guidance.  The men and women of the Northeast Chapter of the F.F.I.E.C., are your local financial services regulators.  You should get to know them, work with them and understand how they are approaching many of the same issues we all are trying to tackle every day.  Integris Security highly recommends you  review the regulators guidance and find answers to your company's compliance problems. These tools are also 100% free and incredibly useful information.

I do take issue with Rasmussen regarding this statement:

"There are no requirements for disaster recovery or business continuity. The card brands do not care if your business goes under, as long as their payment card data is secure." 

This is a nit, and can also be style but the point has to be made.  Their are literally hundreds of best practices for disaster recovery and business continuity and they should be put to use, despite the lack of attention by card brands to advise this.  Promotion of best practices is something we owe to the industry as a whole in our writings and presentations.  Taking on the Card Brands for lack of attention to Rasmussen's legitimate concerns would do better as a separate article, another a day and time in my eyes. We're talking Cyber-Security and Operational Risk Maturity.  At Integris Security we push all to stay focused.  Good practice is too important to relegate to tomorrow's news.  Let's keep it up front and worthy of continual presence and persuasion in our discussions in how to improve cyber-security and operational risk maturity.

In maturity level II, I love this discussion of controls and it reminds me of C.O.B.I.T., as well as the many information security joint forums held with ISACA in years past and their auditor/members.  You gotta love the structure that these individual professionals have developed and the principles that they follow.  This is a serious group of security professionals and we could all learn allot from them.  Rasmussen then lays out the common controls read: GAP analysis, and Risk based deployment of controls, while not much new here he provides a great review.  All solid material for a CEO and others within the organization to read and understand when weighing decisions on investment in the security program or cutting the fat off an already lean program.  These decisions will not be easy ones for sure.

My own note here:

The Cyber-Security and Operational Risk Maturity discussions can not be left alone to the operational business units, departments or divisions of your company.  These discussions need to expand and involve audit committee's at the board level and become a fluid ongoing discussions lead by the chair of the audit, technology and other important committees as the board and operational personnel try to achieve a balance of risk Vs reward and continue to build market value for the company's shareholders and investors.

 Joseph R. Concannon             

In maturity level III, Risk Management, Rasmussen covers it nicely and I smiled as he stated:

"It is necessary to tailor controls to the organization and to adapt to changes in the threat landscape."

Nicely done Gideon T. Rasmussen, these words couldn't be truer.  It also reminds me to tell our readers to remember that each organization has its own culture.  Some are very risk sensitive and others not so much so.  I often use Johnson and Johnson and Martha Steward Living as examples.  Two great companies but their approach to security was night and day.  Johnson and Johnson a security controls organization (almost war like) and Martha Steward Living a creative design firm.  The cultures were completely different at the time of my interview with security personnel.  Management of your and the company expectations are very important.  Don't get ahead of your skates or you  may get caught off balance.  Knowing the culture of your organization is key and very important.  Now that you have new security and risk management information in hand how do you operationalize it?  The best advice is work with your team and leader and try to introduce incremental improvements to improve your organizations overall security/risk posture.  This will work to your benefit for the short term tactical business operations as well as long term strategic planning for important improvements.

Your threat and vulnerability map will be constantly evolving, as targets and priorities come and go.  The risk assessment report provides you with items for your to-do list.  The report will show best practices and offer a target rich list for you to prioritize.  Rasmussen I believe understands this and covers it nicely and provides some bonus points by laying out some bullets for a prospective slide deck to communicate your findings and setting some future objectives.

The Risk Register is a platform to inform and Rasmussen points this out clearly.  Want to know more about your risk?  The Risk Register is a place you want to go to identify, define, understand impact, respond, prioritize, and take notes.  Its an invaluable tool given to us by the folks from project management.

Maturity level IV, Strong Risk Management, Rasmussen lays out a ten step program.

Rasmussen says:

1. There is appropriate separation of duties in the CISO’s reporting structure, such as reporting to the CEO, Chief Risk Officer or Board of Directors. When the CISO reports to the CIO, it is a conflict of interest  2. Cyber-security metrics, KPIs and KRIs feed into an Enterprise Risk Management program.  3.The CISO provides updates to the Board of Directors or similar executive group.  4.The cyber-security program maintains controls specific to line of business products, services and assets. 5. A process management program is in place, to include policy, an inventory and process risk analysis.  6. A fraud prevention program is in place, to include fraud risk assessments conducted by an independent third party. 7. An operational risk management function maintains a risk scenarios inventory and conducts quantitative risk analysis. 8.The organization leverages the Three Lines of Defense Model, with active support from operational management, risk management and compliance functions and internal audit. 9.  Operational functions and lines of business are required to declare self-identified audit issues, with metrics in place to demonstrate the control environment is improving continuously 10. Incident response and business continuity exercises are conducted annually to include senior executives, lines of business leaders, information technology, legal, public relations and critical suppliers

This information is a like having a great cyber-security road map.  However, just like any road map their are going to be detours, accidents, potholes and your going to need the awareness, patience and skills to work around it all.  If you follow the program laid out by Rasmussen you'll be in a better position to mitigate those great unknowns and navigate your way freely from obstructions.

At Integris Security we say: you make it, we make it secure!  We look forward to having these and many other important discussions with you and really enjoyed our read of Gideon T. Rasmussen's LinkedIn article concerning Program Maturity - Cyber-Security and Operational Risk Maturity and hope that you will too!  Their is much to learn and many experiences to endure before we can truly say we're secure.


#Cyber-Security  #HomelandSecurity  #InfraGard #ISSA #ISACA #FFIEC #NIST

Big Data: Security, Trust and Integrity

In information security the jewel of all certifications is the CISSP (certified information systems security professional).  The certification is your entry key into the top tier cyber security jobs and earned respect of your peers in the industry. 

The group that hosts the coveted CISSP certification is (ISC)2: the world's leading cyber security professional organization.  They actively promote their members and insist you want one our people at the switch if threats of an attack are at your doorstep. 

A great many information security professionals have earned this certification and live up to its standards and for that they are proud card carrying members.  I salute them for their achievement. 

One of the most important aspects of the certification in my eyes is the code of ethics.  The code of ethics tells you something about the individual and the organizations they belong to.  (ISC)2 spares no dime on its code.  The code of ethics is huge and prominent.  Honor and duty are fundamental in any cyber security career.  The group lays it out like this:

• Our code
• Code of ethics preamble
• Code of ethics canons

We again salute (ISC)2 for their outstanding work.  Note well that prominence of the code, its preamble and canons can not replace the responsibility of the issuing organization to aggressively maintain the standards so that they ensure its integrity.  The organization owes it to its members to police itself and has a complaint procedure, ethics committee and international working group.

As data becomes accessed from hundreds and in some cases thousands of sources we reflect on the role of the information security professional has in the work place and what a pivotal role it is.  Untimely and inaccurate intelligence/data can cause food supply shortages, it could run up the price of a barrel of oil and shift geopolitical affairs world wide.  The use of big data and concerns around integrity have never been more critical and important.  

The role of the CISSP member becomes exponentially more important and his/her integrity should not come in question, hence the focus on "Big Data" in this article.  Data can shift global markets, take down thriving economies and strip citizens of their bill of rights so the importance and focus on this topic is both timely with a need to be accurate.  As governments and citizens react to COVID-19 the initial focus was on data driven models which reported that millions were in peril if the US Government did not act quickly.  Today we see state governments restricting the movement of its citizens, baring them from accessing their properties (Michigan), removing business and liquor  licenses from businesses who refused to comply (Maine) and here in NYC the issuance of one thousand dollar fines if you are found in non compliance - wear your mask, don't get closer than six feet or else!  

As time passes we are learning that models are just that models.  Accuracy depends on the information you put into models we have learned and if the data is awful so is the model and its outcome. Thus data its custodians and security personnel take heed. I think I made the case, data its timeliness and accuracy is very, very important.  The integrity of data custodians, security personnel has never been more acute.

 

WELCOME

 Welcome and yes we are back!  Our target is our clients, our prospects, our friends and family in the industry.  We are passionate about assessing risk, we run deep in security issues and also like to take some time to laugh as well.  We hope each of you enjoy the blog and contribute.

Risk and security discussions start at the top of every organization.  This isn't just jargon.  It is serious and when reading our blog you'll keep this in mind as you read along.  The CEO is the chief risk/security evangelist for your organization.  While we all love to laugh and make light of some things, in earnest we all need to focus when it comes to risk and security.  If the CEO isn't talking about risk and security than it just hasn't become a priority for your organization and your board of directors need to bring him/her in and explain the priorities for your organization.  We point in earnest to the your audit committee and its chairperson.  If things go wrong and they will in even the best organizations the chair of the board of directors audit committee will be the first person interviewed.  

If your like us and become aware of an issue, a solution, a best practice or new application and/or free or pay for tools that you just couldn't let slip by let us know.  If you'd like to be considered for a guest blog entry keep this is in mind: One focused topic, 400 words tops email us at: info@integrissecurity.com.  We know everyone has access to some cool graphics which help understanding the concepts and theories being put forward so choose carefully and send it along.  Our focus is to explain issues as simple as possible and to have the graphics bring the point home.  The ah ha moment.  

SOCIAL MEDIA

Did someone say social media?  In the past we have put our toe in the water with social media.  We plan to go full throttle with social media and may even add to our current setup.  So on our web site you'll see Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and of course this Google+ Blogger Blog.  We may expand on this and add You Tube if we think it brings additional value.  We think that we need to bring everyone the full impact of the web via our associated media outlets.  If you want to be part of this and share your wisdom let us know.  Email us: info@integrissecurity.com.

Thanks everyone and welcome back.

Cyber Security Month: Looking for Answers: Part I?

LONG ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS

Long Island BusinessNews’ second annual Cyber Security event, on October 6th 2016 at the Huntington

LI Business New Cyber Conference

Hilton, was once again informative, invigorating and enrolling. With a number of panelists participating, including both the Integris Security CTO, Blake Cornell, and United States Congressman US District 1, Lee Zeldin, nearly 100 individuals attended the breakfast event.

Topics of interest had included Cyber Terrorism, Business Continuity, Government Legislation, Small Business Best Practices and other wide ranging topics. Some of the information shared, information that attendees can use in their day to day business operations.

A goal of Integris Security CTO, Blake Cornell, was to provide “simple and sound information that is short and sweet” further stating that “if your employees are untrained then no amount of technical information will help them understand. You can’t make them understand but you can help them understand”.

Blake Cornell is the CTO of Integris Security LLC.

Are You A Farmer Maybe A Network Engineer?

John Deer Tractor

While I'm not a farmer at hand I have dabbled with backyard gardening tools and have proudly planted and harvested several groupings of tomato plants and boy were they delicious.  Did I own the tools, the knowledge and the capability?  I thought so...but boy have times changed.

Today I'm reading a wired article and learning that farmers need to improvise and tinker around just as much as any one else in order to keep important and valuable machinery at work - working.  However the article which you can find here: http://www.wired.com/2015/02/new-high-tech-farm-equipment-nightmare-farmers/ tells a story which applies much further then a central Illinois corn farmer sitting on top of his combine.

The story written by Kyle Wiens of Wired brings up a great point.  Who really owns it and what does it hold for me, the owner?  A farmer in Wiens article spends over a hundred thousand for is top flight John Deer Tractor let's say and at the end of the day the question prevails, who really owns it?  You buy a top flight network appliance and we ask you, who really owns it?

While the seller wants you to buy their state of the art machinery or device, they do not release the software, hardware or for that matter everything inside which makes the machine or network device in the very first place so invaluable.  You of course get to ride it sometimes and use it for its intended purpose watch the lights bubble on/off.  You even get to clean it and shine it up with wax and polish if so inclined or just dust it off.  But if this 100,000 dollar baby decides to shut down or its circuits get glued or jammed up what you own is a 100,000 dollar shinny piece of metal and perhaps a bill for getting it towed off your lot or pulled off your network when it decides to shut down.

Like so many things today from a John Deer Tractor to a state of the art upstream protection appliance for your network the question prevails who really owns it?  The point being that you really need to be reading the fine print upon purchase, understand your operating system, learn about the configuration and understand what the long term consequences would be for owning such a machine or device.  In one case after the next we're witnessing not the lack of budget to purchase an upscale machine or network appliance but the long term ongoing problems associated with ownership, such as: maintenance, upgrades, proper configuration, segmentation, alarming and enumeration. 

While I'm not a farmer, things are rapidly changing and we'd better be changing with them or for sure the consequences will lay right in our own laps.  Failure to fully understand the value of modern day machinery/network devices, lack of service level agreements or understanding thereof, maintenance contracts whether your a farmer or network engineer machinery breaks down and so do network devices.  Of course if they are not setup and configured correctly in the first place you could say you're just throwing money out the window.  Times are changing, better be nimble and change with them.  Its not just about buying that state of the art "thing" but understanding the long term consequences of ownership can be just as expensive as "Ownership" in the first instance.  Buyer beware.

Banks: Federal/State Rules

No holiday would be complete with out a stern warning to the banking industry from both state and federal regulators, right?  Ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas - can you please assure us that your security controls are in order!

I was going to review Governor Andrew Cuomo's Department of Financial Services as it pertained to "new" security regulations for chartered banks in New York State.  The Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services initiated a press release and letter to chartered New York financial institutions.  After reviewing the memo I concluded that if all companies implemented the items in the Superintendent's letter, the public and private industries would be in a much better place. 

Then late yesterday the FFIEC (federal financial institutions examination council)  OCC (Office of the Comptroller of Currency) spokesman Joel Anderson spoke up.  Mr Anderson responding in a interview in American Banking Magazine stated, "we already do this" and what's going on in New York is nothing new. 

This is what New York DFS said they would look for:

New Rules: NYS

• Corporate governance, including organization and reporting structure for cyber security related issues;
• Management of cyber security issues, including the interaction between information security and core business functions, written information security policies and procedures, and the periodic reevaluation of such policies and procedures in light of changing risks;
• Resources devoted to information security and overall risk management;
• The risks posed by shared infrastructure;
• Protections against intrusion including multi-factor or adaptive authentication and server and database configurations;
• Information security testing and monitoring, including penetration testing;
• Incident detection and response process, including monitoring;
• Training of information security professionals as well as all other personnel;
• Management of third-party service providers;
• Integration of information security into business continuity and disaster recovery policies;
• Cyber security insurance coverage and other third party protections

These are all things we at Integris Security does.

New York State then went on to list more topics which chartered banks in NYS would be expected to furnish.  We list them here for your review:

1.  Provide the CV and job description of the current Chief lnformation Security Officer or the individual otherwise responsible for information security, describe that individual's information security training and experience, and identify all reporting lines for that individual, including all committees and managers. In addition, provide an organization chart for your institution's IT and information security functions.
2.  Describe the extent to which your institution maintains information security policies and procedures designed to address the information security goals of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Provide copies of all such information security policies.
3.  Describe how data classification is integrated into information risk management policies and procedures.
4.  Describe your institution's vulnerability management program as applicable to servers, endpoints, mobile devices, network devices, systems, and applications.
5.  Describe the organization's patch management program including how updates, patches, and fixes are obtained and disseminated, whether processes are manual or automated, and how often they occur.
6.  Describe identity and access management systems employed by the organization for both internal and external users, including all administrative, logical, and physical controls and whether such controls are preventive, detective, or corrective in nature.
7.  Identify and describe the current use of multi-factor authentication for any systems or applications.
8.  Describe your institution's due diligence process regarding information security practices that is used in vetting, selecting, and monitoring third-party service providers.
9.  Describe all application development standards utilized by the organization, including the use of a secure software development life cycle, and the extent to which security and privacy requirements are assessed and incorporated into the initial phases of the application development process.
10. Provide a copy of, to the extent it exists in writing, or otherwise describe, the organization's incident response program, including how incidents are reported, escalated, and remediated.
11. Describe the extent to which information security is incorporated into the organization's BCP/DR plan, how and how often the BCP/DR is tested, and the results of the most recent test.
12. Describe any significant changes to the institution's IT portfolio over the last 24 months resulting from mergers, acquisitions, or the addition of new business lines.

 Analysis:

It is a positive step forward for New York State Department of Financial Services to require its chartered financial institutions to meet minimum guidelines for the security of its information technology processes.  These security baselines are critically important not just to financial services institutions but to all public and private entities.  Since NYS has published these official rules it should now become the benchmark or de facto standard by which all other organizations are measured against.  These rules are appropriate and an outstanding starting point for any one who is not sure where to start.

The federal government provides an seemingly endless amount of guidance for the protection of information technology assets.  The fed's use the NIST framework and numerous NIST publications to assist everyone involved in the security of IT assets.  The federal regulators have been the go to professionals in the banking space for establishing standards so its not unusual to hear from Mr. Anderson of OCC or any of the regulators who are apart of the FFIEC. 

What is the news with this New York letter?  The federal regulators often calibrate their examinations according asset size.  Thus larger institutions receive more intense evaluation then smaller organizations.  However, New York has a very specific set of rules in which every institution must be prepared to comply with.  This is not a little matter and could have significant cost ramifications. 

Lastly, I have for years heard from administrators, mangers and CISO's who have tried to get budget authority to make the purchases necessary to secure their environments.  I am suggesting that security personnel use the NYS standards to present to CFO's as justification for future purchases.

http://dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1412101.htm

http://dfs.ny.gov/banking/bil-2014-10-10_cyber_security.pdf

www.americanbanker.com/news/bank-technology/occ-our-cybersecurity-exams-are-plenty-detailed-too-1071708-1.html

http://www.americanbanker.com/

Ten Mistakes that Boards Make

Too often we are learning of executive level errors or omissions which cause massive breaches to the data or PI of millions of citizens.  Here's the "Ten Mistakes That Board Make".

         1. Not Asking Questions

2. Failing to Understand the Company and the Risks it Faces

3. Failing to Lead on Ethics and Compliance

4. Not Insisting on a Crisis-Management Plan

5. Speaking out in a Crisis Before the Facts are in

6. Relying on the Wrong Outside Counsel

7. Failing to Understand Attorney-Client Privilege

8. Underestimating Regulators

9. Giving too Much Leeway to Rainmakers

10. Getting Caught Up in the dilemma of False Options

Taken from the magazine Corporate Board Members, an article written by Randy Meyers.

Make Integris Security your Chief Risk Officer (CRO) as the independent keeper of oversight in your corporate enterprise.  It is the job/function of the CRO to keep regulator awareness at a high level and to let the business be in charge of risk management.

Integris Security LLC grew from our passion for protecting our nation’s critical infrastructures and years of providing industry professionals with best of breed solutions, proven best practices and top notch security education. We work tirelessly to nurture our clients’ TRUST. We will work equally diligently to EARN your trust.


Reference: http://operationalrisk.blogspot.com/2014/11/top-ten-mistakes-board-of-directors-risk.html

 

Uncertainty, risky first half of 2014...the year of the hack?

Pushing the buttons of millions of individual Americans is the fact that their accounts have been hacked according to Larry Ponemon at the Ponemon Institute in a study conducted for CNN Money.  Ponemon's study gaged that 47% of adults had their accounts hacked during 2014, which may soon become known as "the year of the hack".  That's just about half of all adults in the United States.

The facinating numbers come at the heals of the Target breach which we have been discussing on this blog and doesn't include the millions in the latest eBay Breach.  Its raining on the American Public as millions of  (PII) records are exposed.  Here are the facts and figures Ponemon and Jose Pagliery of CNN have dug up for CNN Money:

"Cyber attacks are growing so numerous that we're becoming numb to them. Researchers at IT company Unisys (UIS) say we're now experiencing "data-breach fatigue." Even the most recent numbers make for a dizzying list:

• 70 million Target customers' personal information, plus 40 million credit and debit cards
• 33 million Adobe user credentials, plus 3.2 million stolen credit and debit cards
• 4.6 million Snapchat users' account data
• 3 million payment cards used at Michaels
• 1.1 million cards from Neiman Marcus
• "A significant number" of AOL's 120 million account holders
• Potentially all of eBay's 148 million customers' credentials"

More numbing then the facts and figures presented by Ponemon Institute for CNN MONEY is the fact that the industry has not adopted better and well known security practices as a whole.  Need I go on?  For ten years industry has been digging a hole deep in the sand and sticking their preverbal heads in the hole.  See my blog post on accountability.

Let's not blame it on companies looking at profits after all isn't that why companies are in business to begin with.  However we too pause, when companies select tactical gains to satisfy quarterly earnings statements and maybe making themselves look good as opposed to the overall strategic growth and health of a company or corporation.  Read responsibility to share holders, and company employees. To some extent the risk Vs reward discussion will come up and when presented executives will nervously select profits.  Until boards reflect the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to make both tactical and strategic management decisions we will continue to see the deep decline and clearly the never ending "year of the breach".  Operational executives will respond in kind when Boards of Directors begin to ask the thorny questions which should focus on the strategic growth of the company.  Employees will then be motivated and hear the clarion call from mount high when the CEO comes back from the board meeting and says they want more security and assurance before we can bring that function on board, who certified that code, who tested it and who is taken ownership of the relationship with the software team?

Here's hoping that the second half of 2014 is the year of Board of Directors active and attuned to what is going on not only in the front office but every office.  That function continues to thrive and work closely if not right next to the security team.  That multi-factor authentication is used not just for outsiders, but insiders as well.  That outside relationships are clearly defined and SLA's (service level agreements) are scoped out to protect both the vendor and the company.  That data which can be held in a planet sized computer terminal or a tiny smart phone is protected and preserved because we should all enjoy a level of privacy.   That when we buy the state of the art upstream gadget that detects attacks and when alarms go off and people start screaming at the top of their lungs someone will listen and will have been properly trained on the use of the gadget and that it is properly configured. All very hopeful that the year end will be better than the start.  The future is now before us.  Let's see how we do!

Good luck everyone!

LINKS:

The Cyber Crime Economy

Study: 432 million accounts hacked

Lessons from the U.S. Veterans Administration

Government run healthcare is suffering from the stiff stench of reality this week as the Veterans Administration emplodes in a wide scale corruption probe in over 46 different facilities - defining systematic corruption which has infected the entire bureaucracy.  What can we learn?

Audits tell part of the story and so does strong management which not only holds those accountable but is in fact in trenches leadership.  Take a hard look at, "Undercover Boss" and ask yourself if the leadership of the VA had been in the trenches could things have been any different.  Clearly the Administrator of the VA was fighting an uphill battle of liars, cheats, and more.  But "Undercover Boss" makes the point: get out of the office and get into the trenches for a reality check.  Now let's see if our USDOJ follows the Veterans Administration IG's report and starts the most necessary criminal investigations to clean the VA once and for all so that our war heros finally get what they deserve - the best health care known to man.

We talk much in this blog about management and boards of directors.  As we should.  Organizations depend on these fine men and women to do the impossible, to be supermen and women.  But the days of hands off management are long gone.  Whether you are in government or the private sector if you haven't gotten that message its high time you did.  Get out of the office and learn the reality of what is going on in the workplace.

We heard much this week about out dated technology and "scheduling".   We worry, is this a sign of times to come in government run healthcare?  Well, those of us in technology know all too well that technology does a backflip and ten steps forward about every 60-90 days.  So if you're thinking of saving money and leveraging your entire corporation and/or government run agency on shoestring that has a one time techology budget - in the immortal words from Brooklyn, NY - forget about it.

Technology is in the worst case an infant, with an appetite that rivals most young U.S. Marines in boot camp.  Belly up to the table because this infant is going to need your undying attention, your understanding and your coddling every single day of the week.  Budgeting and planning for the unexpected are just another great aspect which many who are so quick to adopt technology and outsourcing with an expectation of saving millions may want to slow down and take a deep breath.  Technology implementations are expensive and those seeking to cut to shortcuts are only doing a royal disservice to their companies and agencies and fooling themselves.  While the passing of timely and accurate information is exciting and used correctly can help you turn on a dime....it comes with a fairly large investment and huge reality check on expectations - but not on the information delivered, but on the intense care and ongoing maintainence to systems, controls and people.

Take a hard look at the Veterans Administration of today and ask yourself Mr/Mrs CEO or Agency head...could this be me?  Do I even have a clue?  We hope this as in any number of cases we bring to your attention help you focus not just on security but the fundermentals of leadership and management.

If you need a trusted source and friendly but well grounded reality check give us a call.  We would like your business, but we're not willing to suffer our reputation just to make a buck.

Trust is at the core of Integris Security. We can be counted upon to provide you with the services and intelligence to keep your information, systems and institution secure. Call us and let's get to work on improving your security/risk posture.