Log In   |  Register Free Newsletter Subscription
Skip navigation
ADVERTISEMENT
You will be redirected to your destination in 10 seconds.
Zibb
Subscribe to Manufacturing Business Technology
FirstLight 
RSS
Reprints/License
Print
Email

Security planning should include storage systems

By Jim Fulcher, contributing editor -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 6/1/2005 6:00:00 AM

While corporations readily spend millions of dollars to secure the data they send out over the Internet and various other networks in the course of doing business, very few even think about protecting the data residing on their storage systems.

Industry experts say that's a potentially fatal mistake, especially for manufacturers.

"Just because storage sits behind firewalls, networks, and servers doesn't mean it's safe," notes Jon Oltsik, senior analyst, information security, at Enterprise Strategy Group, Milford, Mass. "In most companies, a malevolent individual with the right skills could easily interrupt business operations or steal intellectual property—resulting in millions of dollars of damage from a single event."

Doug Howard, VP of service delivery for Counterpane, a supplier of data security solutions and services, says manufacturers should be especially concerned about stored data because it often includes their most valuable asset—the company's intellectual property.

"It isn't wise to spend a lot of money on perimeter security, and then leave valued assets out in the open," Howard says. "Valued assets should be stored safely, and be surrounded by perimeter security as well. A good example is to think of a bank: it has good perimeter security, but there's also a safe to store the most valuable assets."

Adds Kevin Brown, a VP with storage security solution supplier Decru, "The growing trend to outsource design or manufacturing operations presents a huge security risk."

Electronic design files may be shared with a contract manufacturer, but they are critical to a company's financial profitability as well, Brown says. If design data about a new consumer electronics device, for instance, isn't stored safely and is somehow leaked to the press or given to a competitor, it could be disastrous for the manufacturer, he says.

"Manufacturers will soon start demanding that their intellectual assets are protected—wherever they are in the value chain," Brown predicts.

RSS
Reprints/License
Print
Email
Talkback
Reed Business Information Resource Center

Featured Company


Related Resources

Advertisement
No content
Advertisement

NEWSLETTERS
Mid-Day Report
Innovation Strategies
Intelligent Manufacturing
Lean Enterprise



Please read our Privacy Policy

About Us   |   Advertising Info   |   Site Map   |   Contact Us   |   FREE Subscription   |   Affiliate Links   |   RSS
© 2009 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Use of this Web site is subject to its Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
Please visit these other Reed Business sites