Final Words

In this scenario, management for the two groups should have helped resolve the problem that's why management exists. Unfortunately, these managers were hung up on their own political agendas. Encourage your managers to look at the big picture (safety of the data), and then take action based on the facts.

System administrators must never leave systems wide open just because they don't know how to configure security. At the same time, system configurations can't be dictated from above. They must be agreed upon and understood by the people who must install and support them.

And, of course, they need to be updated constantly. Outdated policies are like seat belts that don't work. They make it look like your car would give you adequate crash protection when it can't. Be sure to buckle up your data (with working belts) before you crash.

And, sooner or later, you will crash. Ignoring all other factors, there's always a greater chance of accidents in heavy traffic. Well, even though the exact numbers are elusive, the traffic on the Internet is becoming intense. By February 2002, the number of Internet users worldwide was estimated at 544 million. North America alone counted 181 million. That's up from about 25 million U.S. users as recently as 1997. Add to that users from the rest of the world, plus corporate intranets, and it's easy to predict that we'll be seeing some serious buckles in the infrastructure. Proper policies and procedures can help your company avoid disappearing into one of the resulting cracks.