Security chiefs at home: No such thing as 'off duty'

It's a good idea to think twice before pursuing certain professions -- they could change your daily habits, if not your entire outlook on life. A chief financial officer might choose a house project based on its impact on home value. An emergency room worker might forbid his kids from jumping on a trampoline.

What about a chief security officer? CSOs are paid to be vigilant (some might say paranoid), so how can that mind-set not impact their personal affairs, particularly when it comes to traveling, securing personal information, protecting belongings and raising kids?

To find out, we spoke with five security chiefs about how their profession influences them outside of the office. Their precautions may occasionally seem extreme, but take heed -- even these experts aren't always immune to credit card fraud or identity theft.

It's a good idea to think twice before pursuing certain professions -- they could change your daily habits, if not your entire outlook on life. A chief financial officer might choose a house project based on its impact on home value. An emergency room worker might forbid his kids from jumping on a trampoline.

What about a chief security officer? CSOs are paid to be vigilant (some might say paranoid), so how can that mind-set not impact their personal affairs, particularly when it comes to traveling, securing personal information, protecting belongings and raising kids?

To find out, we spoke with five security chiefs about how their profession influences them outside of the office. Their precautions may occasionally seem extreme, but take heed -- even these experts aren't always immune to credit card fraud or identity theft.

Name: Stanton Gatewood

Title: Chief of information security

Organization: Georgia Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

"This is who I am -- it's in my blood," says Stanton Gatewood, chief of information security at the Georgia Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. After more than 30 years as a security professional, including stints in the U.S. Air Force, AT&T Bell Labs and the University of Southern California, he says, "It's what I do, and I can't turn it off at 5:00 p.m."

While he was at AT&T, he says, a system at the security operations center visually displayed the thousands of attacks per minute that threatened the network, representing people probing for back doors and weaknesses. "I've seen too much," he says. "Scams, threats, people being bullied, things being stolen, identity theft, vulnerabilities being capitalized on -- I live and breathe this every single day."

Gatewood recalls sitting with his extended family at a holiday gathering when the conversation turned to the Internet. As the discussion went on, one of his uncles noticed he'd gotten quiet and compared his reaction to those of friends who had fought in Vietnam. "He said, 'They have this stare, and I see it in you,'" Gatewood says.

At home, Gatewood admits to being a geek. "I love the tools available to us today," he says. In addition to securing his home computers with rootkit detection utilities, intrusion-prevention software, antivirus and antispyware software, and firewalls that isolate the network when they sense an attack, he has safeguarded his house with a keyless entry system (accessible via his smartphone), automated lights and a security system that includes motion detectors and video cameras.

Gatewood also uses a credit-watching service, because he and his wife have twice been victims of identity theft. In both cases, he says, the theft of their personal data probably occurred while they were on road trips during which they gave their credit cards to desk clerks at several hotels.

He advises people to extend credit monitoring services to their children's and elderly parents' credit lines as well. "The largest growing sector in the population for identity theft is our kids," he says. "From cradle to grave, we should be watching our electronic selves."