Security management tactics for the network administrator: controlling and managing security with performance tools

Overview

Holistic systems to implement, manage, and monitor the system security and configuration must be put in place and then regularly audited with the collection, storage, and analysis of system logs. Records must also be kept and regularly reviewed that track changes to systems to ensure continuous compliance with corporate and industry policy.

While this sounds like a daunting task, it doesn't have to be. Many options exist in today's IT landscape that can meet these needs. In fact, these tools are often already in place to provide performance management and monitoring. They just need to be tapped for a new function. This article shows features of these management tools that can be repurposed to provide additional functionality with no additional overhead or expenditure.