Re: Role of Campus Police. Was: number of IT security staff

["Penn, Blake" <pennb () UWW EDU>]

Antonio:

The primary point is that the function of information security needs to
happen regardless of who performs it.  The second point is that the
persons performing information security should be those most qualified
to do so.  The core competencies of traditional law enforcement dictate
that they should handle issues such as evidence preservation,
chain-of-custody, etc.  By the same token, digital forensics, system log
investigation, digital event correlation, etc. should be handled by the
infosec folk. 

By assuring cooperation between these two groups, all of these functions
should be adequately addressed.  It shouldn't be a turf war about who is
"in charge," but rather a process by which each group contributes its
respective competencies in order to achieve the desired goals.  

One of the first people I met with on coming to this campus was the
chief of police.  I think that it would be wise for all ISOs to do the
same.  Let's come up with common ground and let each group handle the
tasks in which they are most expert.  I think that law enforcement is
willing and eager to work with infosec folks, as they love to tap our
skill set as a resource.  We need to be as willing and able to work with
the law enforcement community as well.  A concrete example of this is
the Southeast Cybercrime Institute at Kennesaw State, where law
enforcement and infosec contingents co-mingle regularly and work towards
common goals that both groups face.

__
Blake Penn, CISSP                               
Information Security Officer            
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater      
262-472-5513
pennb () uww edu 

-----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Discussion Group Listserv
[mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Antonio Quesada
Sent: Monday, January 31, 2005 12:30 PM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Role of Campus Police. Was: number of IT
security staff

Well, an InfoSec Officer of another institution of the University System
of Georgia was kind enough to call me and tell me that she disagrees on
my position that Information Security should be handled by Campus
Police. Her point being that Campus Police is not trained to deal with
electronic crime and that information security is more than just Crime
Prevention. I appreciate her reading my post, Thanks!!!!

I would like to expand on my point and present my thoughts on the
matter. 

I entirely agree on the issue of "not trained" or "not prepared", but
that is not the point. The point is, they shall be "prepared". We can
help them now, but all law enforcement activities belong to the police.
I respect police work to the fullest, of course I do, but in all
honesty, I do not want to be a police man. I want to be a Data Network
Manager and continue my career in this field. Years ago the police did
not have the training or equipment to identify/stop speeders, drug
carriers, concealed weapons, etc. etc.

I am of the firm idea that we need to separate the function of Data
Network/Systems/IT/etc Management from the Security function, and this
latter function shall belong to a law enforcement force. 

This way those of us who want to do IT will do it, and those who wish to
pursue law enforcement, electronic or not, will. 
And also, will keep us IT guys more accountable, since we are not in
charge of collecting/handling evidence.

This may take a while to happen, but I really believe it is the way to
go. 
Please feel free to flame me. 


Thanks.

Antonio Quesada
Network Manager, OIT
Gwinnett University Center
1000 University Center Lane Suite B3800
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
USA
678-407-5093

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