Sidebar: First Among Equals

By Mary K. Pratt

August 30, 2004 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - Companies often put functionality or time to market first when it comes to their corporate Web sites, but they should put security at the top of the list, says Jonathan G. Gossels, president of SystemExperts Corp., a Sudbury, Mass.-based provider of network security consulting services with nine offices throughout the U.S.
That means the security team must rank as a major stakeholder as sites are built and revised.
"Security should be part of the overall plan. That's early; that's before anything has been written," Gossels says.
Companies should have guiding principles when it comes to IT security, and those principles must apply to Web sites, says Bala Iyer, an assistant professor in the information systems department at Boston University's School of Management.
Without those guiding principles, companies "could drop the ball on security" as they build their Web systems, Iyer says. Still, he believes many companies push security down on their list of priorities.
Gossels recommends that companies empower workers "to blow the whistle when something isn't being built securely. The ownership of securing the firm is shared by everybody in the firm. Everybody's reputation suffers if the cargo goes out without shutting the door."

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