What would you use a magic IT security wand for?
Truly my best security asset is the person who walks up to me and asks, "What is this?" or "Should I do this?" I've done my best when I have placed just enough doubt so that someone stops to think before doing something. It's that hesitation that is my best security weapon.
What part of your job makes you most proud?
In addition to the near daily risk management that I do at the firm, I would say I'm also proud of being a community member and helping to educate others and share information. Since I work for a small firm, my firm wins when I reach out to others to share the information about risks we see.
What's your information security dream job?
The dream job I'd want for every person involved in the security and risk management field would be that they could be like Captain Picard and "make it so." There is a balance that business needs between enabling technology and the paranoia that ensures we set things up responsibly and securely.
My dream job is that every information security administrator has a boss that says, "That sounds like a reasonable goal, let's do that!"
SKILLS IN DEMAND
Security pay rising
As predicted, security pay has strengthened heading into mid-year. Pay for information security certifications, flat in 2006, is up nearly two percent since January. Pay for 149 IT certifications (29,100 survey participants) dipped 1.1 percent overall with no other IT categories showing growth.
Why security only?
Customers have become more vocal about security threats to their data across vendor networks and systems as breaches continue to escalate. Vendors are feeling the pressure and paying more attention to building more appropriately skilled information security workforces.
Source: Foote Partners 2007 Hot IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index(www.footepartners.com/htscpi_latest.htm).
