Network Security: Business Overhead or Another Profit Center

Security costs money. That is why businesses and even governments are reluctant to allocate
funds for security unless they perceive a dire necessity for doing so. Additionally, security is a
matter of degree, never an absolute, and determining appropriate security expenditures
becomes more difficult still.
One way to make budgeting choices involving security less painful is to explore ways in
which security can be made into a profit center. Encryption devices can provide secure VPNs
as well as encrypt internal records, for instance. They can also protect content intended for sale
over the network such as entertainment programming. Network operators can also offer monitoring
and other value-added security service to enterprise customers, or they can offer
security software for resale along with other business applications.
Security, in the last analysis, is simply a means for controlling access to various parts of the
network. And controlling access lies at the essence of running a profitable network.