Steps to Secure a Law Enforcement Network

I work for a statewide law enforcement network. This network provides on-line access to records concerning wanted persons, stolen vehicles, criminal histories, and other data of importance to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. The state system also provides access to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which is maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies connect to the statewide network to obtain this data and to communicate with other agencies throughout the United States. These user agencies must meet federal and state security requirements to insure confidentiality and integrity of the data. Part of my job is to provide assistance to user agencies in securing their networks that connect to us. Oftentimes these agencies are operating under tight budget constraints with limited manpower and resources. Agency administrators often ask me what I would recommend they do to start securing these systems. This paper attempts to answer that question by addressing several common issues such as training for system administrators, risk assessment, physical security, security policies, and proper system administration.