Templar Titan Security Well-Equipped to Handle a Range of Concerns

Lew Knopp CEO, Templar Titan Security TTS Photo

21st Century Security Concerns Differ Sharply From Past

The term "corporate security" has taken on a whole new meaning as business is well entrenched in the age of technology. Although physical security still demands attention, a growing concern to companies in San Diego and throughout the country is securing their data, including intellectual property, sensitive personnel and financial information, and confidential competitive analysis.

Templar Titan Security (TTS), which just celebrated its fifth anniversary, was formed to provide security-conscious people and organizations with a viable option to counter threats from highly motivated and equipped enemies. Much of its work has taken place overseas, in areas far less stable than San Diego.

The lessons learned from TTS's worldwide operations leave its personnel uniquely qualified to handle the more routine—but equally critical—security challenges faced by U.S. businesses. The goal of the TTS team is to create a low profile and little disruption while providing companies with state-of-the-art security measures. Some of its corporate services are:

• Evaluating and/or overseeing current security operations
• Evaluating overall security, including facility security plans, emergency response procedures, crisis mitigation methods, and other security-related areas
• Installing and monitoring video cameras, and interpreting footage
• Performing computer forensics
• Identifying felonious personnel
• Performing employee background checks
• Providing competitive intelligence consulting
• Performing surveillance and counter-surveillance
• Assisting with risk management and crisis mitigation
• Setting up inventory control measures

Rather than spend the balance of this article focusing on what TTS can do, we've chosen to point out some of the top security challenges for businesses today. While reviewing this information, if you feel unprepared to address one or more of these challenges, then TTS stands ready to provide appropriate guidance.

Thoughts from Gartner

Gartner Inc., one of the top industry analyst firms, recently compiled the following list of top security issues:

• Web Services Security. Does your employees' interaction with the Internet open holes in your network's security?
• Wireless LAN Security. Safeguards are being added to wireless applications, but there are no shortage of hackers trying to break them down.

• The Next Big Virus. As technology becomes more sophisticated, so, too, do those who try to throw a monkey wrench into it.

• Homeland Security. 9/11 shattered everyone's perception of security, but years later, is your business any safer, and do you have plans in place for maintaining operations if a disaster struck?

• Tactical and Infrastructure Security. Addressing solutions to tactical problems is the first step to maintaining greater infrastructure security.

• Protecting Intellectual Property. This is a biggie; corporate espionage has become a big-money business.

• Transaction Trustworthiness and Audit-ability. More attention is being paid to information security measures and the "audit trail" due to the recent rash of companies being prosecuted for malfeasance.

Another Way to Look at It

Since computer systems are a main area of corporate vulnerability today, it's also of value to have a strategy in place to protect your business from being victimized. The following thoughts might be of help:

• Know Your Enemy. Do you think the primary threats to your data come from outside your company? Maybe they do...but it's quite likely they do not. You need to consider and understand both internal and external threats to your company's system security.

• Understand External Enemies. If your system is attacked from outside the company, the perpetrator could simply be showing off his skills and expertise to his peers. Or, there could be more nefarious motivations, including theft, fraud, corporate espionage and cyber-terrorism.

• Defend Against Internal Enemies. Insiders stand to hurt you a lot more than outsiders, since they are privy to confidential information and may be only loosely supervised while accessing it. Your employee hiring practices come into play here, along with ensuring you have a means to track the activities of contractors and temporary employees, and you ensure that former employers do not retain access to your system upon leaving the company.

• Know Yourself. You need to understand your system, as well as its points of vulnerability. Using risk analysis tools and conducting thorough background checks are great ways of enhancing the knowledge you have about your own company.

• Be Aware of Regulations and Consequences. The regulatory climate for information security and privacy is becoming more complex all the time. You need to ensure you're up-to-date on any regulations that concern your business.

• Protect Yourself. Perimeter defenses such as firewalls only provide a modicum of security to your system, if, once they're breeched, it's open season on your sensitive data. A better way to safeguard your company is to protect each critical server and data store against misuse coming from either internal or external threats.

Food for Thought

If you're now wondering whether your company is adequately secure from external and internal threats, your next step should be consulting with experts who are trained to determine your level of vulnerability and make recommendations about getting more secure. Visit the TTS website (http://www.templartitan.com) or call 619-595-4813 to get that process started.