Achieving Executive Buy-in: The Case For Security

Not everyone thinks about security when they should. But with multi-user environments containing business critical data, security is a must. With all the great technology and the magnitude in which businesses and organizations of all sizes rely on information technology, they must also think clearly about security. In most environments network administrators or dedicated security staff have the responsibility of securing these dynamic infrastructures. That being said, many organizations often put security to the way side of higher priority projects or business objectives. This paper conveys a real world approach to selling security to upper management and creating a foundation to build security upon. In order to have a secure infrastructure one must be persistent and creative in making the executives aware of the necessity of having security processes, procedures and standards in place to prevent the organization from feeling the effects of a security breach. User awareness is the key to building a foundation for security and the education must begin with the executives.