Securing a server is relatively easy - what people need to look past is securing the system as a whole. Some day something in the servers or network you are re

Securing a server is relatively easy - what people need to look past is securing the system as a whole. Some day something in the servers or network you are responsible for will probably be breached in some fashion. You won't expect it. You'll find out. You'll panic. Think past securing the perimeter and think about what happens when that fails... because it may. Are you using SSH keys internally to walk around systems? Are they secure? What happens if someone accidentally leaves a test account open somewhere and somehow, through dumb luck, ends up with root access to your kickstart server or whatever config management stuff you have? Now - what will you do when you have to start from scratch? Everyone likes to say once a system is compromised you have to format - but that becomes a daunting task if you're talking about hundreds of systems including the systems used to manage those systems. Do you nuke everything from orbit? Can your business afford the downtime? You need recovery procedures as much as you need security... and you need auditing procedures to ensure that your security and recovery procedures remain valid.... and you need auditing procedures to ensure those auditing procedures are followed. Complexity also breeds problems... keeping systems simple also makes them easier to manage.