Although he feels the challenges facing the private and public sectors are similar, Vernon admits that he was not quite prepared for dealing with governmental bureaucracy. But he adapted quickly and has been instrumental in expanding and redefining the role of an information security officer. The position in the minds of the individuals that were trying to push this thing forward was stated as the 'Internet Security Officer' or something like that. The city is moving rapidly to becoming an e-government. They had concerns with being on the Internet, so that was the slant they put on it.
Information security has a broader spectrum.
But it's true. You can have all the security to protect yourself to the Internet. But if you have a workstation open on someone's desk that has access to the same information you are trying to protect, there's an open door right there. That's another thing I had to really sell to the management throughout the city, because they truly didn't understand or appreciate that. They thought that most of their vulnerabilities would be once they connected to the Internet.