How much Security is too much Security?

When most people think about security, they think about physical security. For example, before I started my journey in IT Security, when I first heard the word security, I thought of armed security guards, gates, cameras, towers, the whole nine yards, but in reality security is much more than that! Security today means much more than it did 30 years ago. In today's security realm, you tend to see a mixture of both physical security and information security. This art of blending these two into policies and procedures to help protect both physical and logical assets is referred to as the security function.

With so many different industries needing security, the way the security function is implemented across different industries will range dramatically. For example, you may have more physical security at a bank than say at a hospital. Ata bank you are going to have different types of vaults and heavy doors that can prevent a robbery from occurring. At a hospital, you are going to be more wary of health records and patient information. That means you are going to have more logical security measures in place if records are stored electronically. More network security will be in place to protect patient data.

The way you implement the security function will wholly depend on what you are trying to protect. There can be too much security at times so make sure you find a good balance of security. You sometimes you don't need the armed guards, security towers, and barbed wire fence protecting your office building. Find the perfect blend of protection and usability. That way you and your company can still operate in an efficient manner. So remember, sometimes you can have too much security, and other times you can't have enough, it all depends!

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