Experience Counts

Jul 8, 2006 12:00 PM, By Sandra Kay Miller

Billing itself as the “on-ramp to the Internet for individuals and businesses worldwide,” Arizona-based Go Daddy Inc. doesn't mess around when it comes to security. Go Daddy offers a comprehensive list of Internet services including ICANN-accredited domain registration, hosting and servers, site building, email, SSL certificate, online shopping cart services and domain auctions.

Although logical security is paramount at an organization such as Go Daddy, more and more companies are realizing that all the firewalls, IDS/IPS and sophisticated network access control systems are virtually useless if the hardware itself is not physically secured.

So it comes as no surprise that Go Daddy tapped a former law enforcement officer as its director of physical security and facility personnel.

After retiring from the public service sector for medical reasons, Iain Kenny has not let his extensive training and knowledge in security and operations planning fall by the wayside. Transferring those skills to meet the rigorous security demands of a high-tech company has been a natural extension for him. Kenny also sees other unexpected bonuses of moving from law enforcement into the private sector.

“This job affords me opportunities I might not have had anywhere else. The variety keeps the job engaging and rewarding,” says Kenny, who explains that he constantly encounters new situations every day that he would not have normally experienced as a police officer.

Granted, at Go Daddy, Kenny's job does not include transporting high-risk prisoners and illegal aliens aboard aircraft throughout North and Central America as he did when he worked with the U.S. Marshal/Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS).

Kenny had also been with the Scottsdale Police Department as an Arizona Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) instructor, which covered the Citizen's Academy, Safety Awareness training Block Watch and Child Abduction workshops. He was a member of the Peer Support and CISD/Critical Incident Stress Debriefing teams.

Initially, Kenny started working at Go Daddy part-time on the weekends and progressed into the director position. He proudly points out, “I've grown the department — handling all security and facility concerns — 1000 percent in two and a half years.”

Unlike many other registrars and hosting companies, Go Daddy develops all its own technologies, does not license any of its products from other companies, and does not outsource or offshore any of its operations. This adds up to increased protection for intellectual property as well as its facilities.

Likewise, Kenny has also built the physical security department from the ground up. “Our team has developed all forms, policies and procedures from scratch,” he says.

Even though the logical and physical security fall under two separate departments at Go Daddy, Kenny works closely with the IT department to maintain an all-inclusive security plan for the organization's physical locations. Logistically, IT supports more than a million customers and manages more than 13 million domains, while Kenny and his team cover the physical aspects. Kenny's team also handles purchasing, inventory and mail distribution throughout the organization.

Kenny oversees the physical security for all of Go Daddy's state-of-the-art data centers, where there is round-the-clock on-site personnel as well as security technologies including CCTV, mantrap-restricted access, biometric scanners and secure-card key access. “All the employees must wear ID badges at all times and access cards are required to move throughout the building,” Kenny says.

Similar to the IT practice of defense-in-depth for information and network security, Kenny controls access to extremely sensitive and restricted areas with multi-tier controls with continuous monitoring.

In addition to the IT staff, Kenny regularly interfaces with vendors regarding security equipment and software purchases. Kenny also works closely with the executive staff to develop solutions for present and future logistical issues related to the company's growth. “We are constantly striving to improve our operations and looking for new ways to do things,” said Kenny. Due to restrictions related to their Form S-1 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and corporate oversight, Kenny declined to provide more detail on the inner security workings at Go Daddy or details about cutting-edge security practices.

When asked to describe a typical day at Go Daddy, Kenny responded, “No two days are ever the same, so it's hard to describe any day as being typical.”

With hundreds of employees and millions of customers, Kenny and his team ensure that Go Daddy's IT department's physical security needs are met at all times. “Providing the security to protect Go Daddy customers is our utmost priority and we take it very seriously. This means security for our employees and the facilities as well as the actual servers themselves,” he says.

All this keeps Kenny well on the go. “My cell phone typically needs a full recharge by early afternoon,” he says.

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