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1. Do a risk analysis: Know where your most proprietary secrets are to ensure that you're spending money to defend information that really matters to the business.


2. Take advantage of your size: Leverage purchases with vendors by standardizing and buying products and services in bulk.


3. Assure quality: Set and align security configuration policies, then audit compliance.


4. Don't build a security empire: Share security responsibility -- and expenses -- with business units, other IT departments and auditors.


5. Avoid duplication: Merge multiple security management control networks into one.


6. Cross-train: Have incident response teams learn firewall administration and other skills they can use between incidents.

Source: Charles Neal, vice president of managed security services at Exodus Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless Internet Services Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif.
Additional Online Resources:

• Cambridge, Mass.-based Giga Information Group Inc.'s Security Action ReportCard: www.gigaweb.com/mktg/sarc/default.asp


• The Center for Internet Security: www.cisecurity.org


• Carlsbad, Calif.-based Computer Economics Inc.: www.computereconomics.com

Read more about Security in Computerworld's Security Topic Center.