Five Mistakes Security Pros Would Make Again

3. Crashing the Firewall

Mistake maker: Christine Wanta

Position: CSO at IntraISP, a Clearwire company

Location: Greater St. Louis area

The incident: Suffered a firewall crash and had to rebuild rulebase from scratch

"I had a firewall rulebase crash on me while I was in it, and since I was the one in the rulebase I had to fix the situation. We did have a strong backup procedure prior to any changes, but I either did not create the backup or screwed it up or was being taught a lesson from one of my fellow admins. I don't recall.

"I had to rebuild the rulebase from scratch basically using a not-so-friendly output of a backup, going through the rulebase change requests and basically cleaning the rulebase up as I went.

"I learned more about that particular network and our rules structure than I would have just working on them.

"Everyone in security makes mistakes. It is the one true way we learn to succeed in our field. Constantly testing and pushing the limits will break something. I prefer to be the breaker."

4. Kidnapping the Wrong Guy

Mistake maker: Douglas McGaughey

Position: Security consultant

Location: Washington D.C.

The incident: Kidnapped the wrong person during a counter-terrorism operation

"I used to manage a counter-terrorism training team and one time, after conducting a lengthy target evaluation and feeling confident in our plan, we initiated it. We kidnapped the individual, who liked to take early-morning jogs. We hustled him into our waiting van and then identified ourselves.

"Long story short: It was the wrong guy. We came to find out that our intended victim had an overnight guest up from some assignment in Central America.

"But we came out smelling like a rose. The guy we kidnapped was so impressed with our stealth, speed and capabilities, and disappointed with himself for letting his guard down so quickly after leaving his last "high-paced" assignment that he offered to give a speech to our students [about his experiences]. His speech hit home and we lucked out big time.

"I wouldn't change anything, as it taught us some valuable lessons and the audience learned something."

5. Risking the Job for What's Right

Mistake maker: Doc Farmer

Position: Senior security specialist

Location: Virginia

The incident: Losing jobs for taking a stand

"I've lost a job or two by sticking to my principles and telling the truth to management who didn't want to hear the truth (not even diplomatically). When they've taken risks that put the entire organization at risk and asked me to sign off on them, I've refused. And I've been sent packing because of it.

"But even with that, I don't regret the decision. I have to be able to look myself in the mirror when I shave my head every morning, after all, and I'd rather be unemployed and honorable than being an employed liar."