Security drives information analyst, day and night

Who: Peter Gregory

Résumé: Clocks in during the day as an information-security analyst at a telecom company. Moonlights as a consultant, speaking and moderating panels about security, and writing instruction manuals and an advice column — all through his side business, the HartGregory Group, in Woodinville.

Formal titles: Certified information-system-security professional (CISSP), certified information-systems auditor (CISA), geek-speak for security expert.

Passion: Educating companies about the importance of implementing an information-security policy. That means defining which employees have access to what information and how the network can be configured, built and managed to maintain the integrity of the information. Information requiring security today is more vital to an organization than ever before, he said. Without it, business grinds to a halt.

Security glitches: Big no-nos occur when employees share user accounts, when the wrong people have access to sensitive information, like payroll, and when sensitive information is e-mailed to the wrong people.

He's no dummy: Gregory's published works include "Solaris Security" (Sun Microsystems Press, 1999) and two texts he co-authored: "CISSP for Dummies" and "Security+ for Dummies." His columns for Computerworld's Web site cover such topics as "Secrets to the Best Passwords" and "Keep IT Managers on Top of Security."

On the side: He said one great thing about working in technology is that you can do it after hours, and people in technology often do extra work on the side. "They can't get enough of getting their hands on things. What they do during the day, they do after hours, and I'm one of those people."

Mo' money: Although at one time his extracurricular work — book royalties and column writing — accounted for more than a third of his overall income, he said today that figure is much lower because he hasn't been able to dedicate more time to it. Regardless, he said he doesn't do it for the money; he finds the work rewarding.

— Tricia Duryee