Security for Small and New IT Departments: Get Your Big Rocks In First

With today's shortage of competent professionals in the information systems industry, many of us find ourselves wearing many hats in our company's IS department. Often times we are faced with the challenge of having to fulfill roles of System and Network Administrator, DBA, hardware specialist, application specialist, helpdesk operator and security officer all in the space of a few hours within a single day. Others may find themselves working for a company that is increasing in size, and because they know more about computers than their manager, are faced with having to secure an ever-growing network. This paper will attempt to assist the small/single-person IS department in setting up and maintaining a secure environment while filling the many roles necessary to the company.