Premier 100: Avnet security manager says security transcends ROI

Computerworld - SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- IT security is a top concern for IT executives attending the Computerworld Premier 100 Conference here.
Doug Lewis, CIO at Six Continents Hotels Inc., called the problem of IT security "the single biggest threat" to his organization. And Curtis Robb, CIO at Delta Airlines Inc., said his company gets 500 attempts to break into its computer systems every day.
Little wonder, then, that Phil Tyler, operational security consultant at Phoenix-based Avnet Inc., told an audience that establishing IT security policies and procedures is critical and shouldn't be placed under strict return-on-investment constraints. "It's like auto insurance," he said. "You don't ask about its ROI."
Tyler gave high marks to Enterprise Security Manager (ESM) from Symantec Inc., which monitors the current status of his company's Windows and Unix servers. But "policy and patch compliance can't be done with tools alone," he said. "You need an effective process, and you need to communicate that process effectively."
In addition, top executives must get involved in the risk management of systems not in compliance with security policies, he said. Without a push from managers, it's difficult to get systems administrators to keep computers up to date, especially given the barrage of security patches needed to keep both Windows and Unix systems safe from outsiders.
Tyler said his group uses ESM to show business-unit managers which servers are out of compliance and lets them decide whether it's worth the risk to keep the machines in that state.
As of this quarter, 60% of the company's servers are in compliance, he said. That's because most of the Unix systems at Avnet are just now coming under the new procedures recently endorsed by the company's legal and human resources departments.
He noted that ESM helped the company control the spread of the recent Slammer worm, which affected only one of its SQL Server systems in Finland. All other Avent SQL Server machines had been appropriately patched.