Web Security Company Takes No Prisoners

[R. A. Hettinga]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/14/technology/ebusiness/14SECU.html?pagewanted=print




January 14, 2002

Web Security Company Takes No Prisoners

By CHRISTINE BLANK

s a former airborne infantry officer in the Army, Clarence Briggs was
trained to protect the country from foreign enemies.

Now, he is using those specialized skills to protect his company, Advanced
Internet Technologies, from hackers, competitors and disgruntled employees.

Surrounding the company's property in Fayetteville, N.C., is coiled razor
wire atop a six-foot chain-link fence. The buildings have eight-inch- thick
concrete walls and are patrolled by uniformed guards with ready access to
firearms. Mr. Briggs explained that he did not want competitors to steal
server computers or data - something he said he had seen at other companies
that like his, serve as hosts for client's Web sites.

Mr. Briggs, who founded the privately held company six years ago along with
other former military people, has also installed video cameras, created
password access to secured areas, locked sensitive documents in a vault and
insisted on extensive employee background checks.

He said such measures were necessary to protect the 32,000 Web sites the
company operates for companies based in this country and abroad.

"Security must absolutely pervade an organization, especially an I.T.
organization," Mr. Briggs said, using an abbreviation for information
technology. "Most I.T. organizations don't even know how bad they get hurt
- until it's too late."

He says that the company, which is generally known as A.I.T., deals with
several attempted network hacker attacks a day.

Fortifications include A.I.T.'s custom-made firewall software, vigilant
surveillance by the staff - most of whom are military veterans with
extensive technical training.

"If I catch you, no expense is too great for me to come after you, and I
will make your life miserable," Mr. Briggs, a former major, said. The
A.I.T. team tracks down perpetrators, then either phones them or sends
representatives from the company or local law enforcement agencies to warn
against further attempts.

"We employ a lot of little traps to track folks that access our network,"
Mr. Briggs said. "We use the typical ambush techniques."

The company is so confident of its preparedness that it plans to offer a
security service for corporations this spring. The program, Mr. Briggs
said, will be modeled on A.I.T.'s mix of physical and electronic security,
along with a "rapid deployment team" that can be quickly dispatched to deal
with security breaches.  



-- 
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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'



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