Information Security and IT Risk Management

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

Overview

This chapter motivates the topic of information security and lays out the structure for the rest of the text. At the outset, we describe why information security is a useful area of study with the hope of getting you excited in the topic. We then provide a brief history of the subject, highlighting important developments that have led to the current state of the industry. Finally, we outline the procedures adopted by the industry to maintain information security. These procedures will be examined in detail in the rest of the book. At the end of this chapter, you should know:

• Why information security is an important topic for everyone today
• The important developments that led to the current state of the information security industry
• Key terms used in information security
• Broad outlines of the procedures used in the industry to maintain information security

Professional utility of information security knowledge

If you are reading this book as part of a college course, it is probably offered by a professional school – business, information, or engineering for example. These schools are expected to graduate students who can hit the ground running when they join the work force. Naturally, we expect that the question foremost on the minds of students in these college is – where are the jobs? What is the professional relevance of this subject? What is the demand for professionals in this subject? What drives organizations to hire graduates with skills ...