Security ROI Rick Shaw – President, CorpNet Security, Inc.

The Challenge! Information Security is just coming into the mainstream. Few companies have given it budgeting in the past. Most ROI is figured on cost avoidance rather than cost savings. Often we have to justify based upon projected savings and statistics.

Banks have done it for years. Banks will use a safe, cameras, sensors, security guards, etc… Your company is no different, it is only the currency that has changed. Today we are dealing with a different point of entry and therefore have different types of sensors (log files, intrusion detection, host agents…).

What is the cost? Hardware (Servers, Firewalls, VPN, Authentication devices). Software (IDS, Log Analyzers, Assessment/Audit Tools, Encryption) Personnel (IS, Trainers, Consultants, CSO)

How long does it take to do your job right? Who actually reads the logs produced by your critical systems? Are the logs even turned on? Systems in question…Critical Servers, Anti- Virus, WWW, e-Commerce, Routers, Firewalls. If you had just 3 of these servers that were somewhat active, you could easily spend 3 hours/day. Most companies have 10X these hosts.

Security “Events” Cost Money Even if a negative “Security Event” resulted in no data loss, you have lost money. Average Virus discovery costs $153/pc to correct. Only you, your competitors and your shareholders can put a value on your data and reputation.

Justification Items Downtime Avoidance. Competitive protection of critical data (research, bids, marketing…) Increased Productivity through increased uptime and more highly educated/aware employees. Direct personnel savings if you actually had the people to manage security on your network appropriately. Reduced litigation from harassment and wrongful termination suites. Possible savings to outsource response services.