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Learn Ways To Better Secure Your Network

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 7, 2007

The doors and windows manufactured by PGT Industries in Venice are hurricane resistant. The company wants to make sure its computer system is just as impenetrable.

That's why PGT is sending its infrastructure architect, Todd Statdfield, to a workshop organized by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement this week.

'Like any organization, we're looking to continuously improve. We hope to attend, do a little networking and find someone else out there doing something that we didn't think of and adapt that to our security monitoring,' Statdfield said.

Scary Reminders

The seminar is called Operation Weblock and targets system administrators, information-technology professionals and anyone who manages networks. It's part of FDLE's SecureFlorida team, which typically travels the state offering cybersecurity classes to consumers.

'There's a need beyond the citizen level at keeping information safe. Businesses have to have some idea of what they can do to secure their networks and secure their infrastructure,' said Neil Sindicich, an FDLE cybersecurity analyst.

Just this year, database security breaches at the University of Missouri, discount retailer TJX Cos. (which owns T.J. Maxx and Marshalls), TD Ameritrade and Monster.com put millions of consumers' information at risk for identity theft. It's a scary reminder that no matter what we do to protect our information, it's still vulnerable in someone else's hands.

Statdfield is very aware risks exist, no matter how secure you think a company's system is.

'As a publicly traded company, we've got a responsibility to our shareholders and users to maintain the confidentiality of their information, no matter what it is,' he said.

Hackers aren't the only threat Operation Weblock will try to thwart. Other types, such as natural disasters, terrorism or electrical problems may not be as sinister as a hacker who launches a virus, but they can still cause damage.

Attendees Get Hands-On Experience

The two-day seminar is funded partially by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and includes concurrent classes by experts and what Sindicich called 'table-top exercises,' in which participants get hands-on experiences in group activities. These are designed to explore how seminar participants would react to a specific attack, to map out strategies and to brainstorm.

Statdfield said he doesn't believe his company has ever suffered from a computer security breach. Protecting the system from malicious code that can disrupt the company's production line isn't the only type of education he hopes to pick up. He believes Operation Weblock's advice will also help his fellow co-workers protect themselves on their personal computers.

'If they get into a good practice at being safe at home, they'll be safe here,' Statdfield said.

The two-day seminar begins at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Westshore Hotel in Tampa. It's free, but you have to register ahead of time because seating is limited to 120 participants. For information and to register, go to www.secureflorida.org.

If you have a consumer question, call the help line at 1-800-338-0808 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. weekdays.

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