The Security Mentor

You've noticed, every time there's a news report of a computer breakin at a government facility, they always say "no classified information was stolen"?

Ever wondered how they could be so sure? It's because the government takes an unimaginative but effective security measure: computers with classified information aren't connected to the Internet. Period. Spies, weapons contractors and others talk to each other over a completely separate network called SIPRNET.

Unfortunately someone got the idea that since their computers were off the public Internet they didn't need antivirus software. Security guru Bruce Schneier pointed out an article about a virus infection on the super-secure black network. At least they detected it and unplugged the infected machines.

The lesson for everyone is, simply, don't get complacent. Don't relax just because you have a piece of security technology installed. Be ready to detect problems and fix them.