Information Security 101: Security for Newbies

Earlier this year, the director of Operations who now is my boss had come to me and offered me a position called 'Information Security Administrator'. I was going to be fighting hackers and live a life of suspense. Now how am I going to become this super-computer genius who will protect the company network and get all the hackers to be afraid of me? Now that I am given the title of Security authority all the magical tools/magic wands that can do anything and everything come with the territory right? Wrong!!! Hollywood had extorted and exaggerated the life of hacking and information Security. As we journey through the world of information Security we are going to see things that would have made the movie boring and difficult to understand. I for one didn't know where to take the first step. When I first began this course I was a bit lost. I didn't know where to begin. The course itself was excellent and I got to learn many different things from it but I actually didn't know how it was applicable. I needed someone/something to guide me to the right direction. This paper is not intended as a substitution for the course itself (nor other security books that cover the security technology in depth) rather as a guide and a starting point to get a sense of what information security is all about.