This is an interesting topic that I personally really never though much about.  Well, I shouldn’t say that.  While I have thought about it… I never really considered them as ‘online security guards’.  Nonetheless though, they are not only desperately needed now, but they will only grow in more demand as time progresses.  The idea of having 24/7 online security guards may sound like a great thing to have, but two things come to mind: (1) their experience and how they will be able to handle things in a fast-paced environment and (2) how much money are they going to want (duh..).

I received a bit of a shock recently. The company I help run launched a new online market for stocks, called Omega, and on opening day, one of our technical consultants, Norman Bates, was watching attempts to hack into the system from around the world. “Here they come!” he yelled. “Got any clients in Russia?” Bates is a scraggly IT veteran who looks a little like Willie Nelson. He’s seen it all, having worked at NASA and the CIA. Along with his almost-cloned engineer son, he provides super-high-end telecommunications security consulting services.

By 10 a.m., just half an hour after we opened, we’d already had 30 unsuccessful attempts to corrupt our system. The denial-of-service attacks came from Spain, Latvia and a lot of other countries where we don’t do business. Fortunately, none of our clients saw any impact from those assaults. Our chief technology officer just shrugged. It’s par for the course for virtually any new Internet address.[more]

Tags: Computer Protection