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How IT Security Pros Blow Off Steam

An IT security pro's job can be hell. To stay sane, it helps to have an outlet to wring out the job stress at day's end. Here's what some of your peers are doing.

By Bill Brenner, Senior Editor

June 04, 2008 —

Fighting with skeptical bean counters to approve a necessary security investment. Explaining to users for the hundredth time why it's a bad idea to click on strange e-mail attachments. Taking the hit for a data breach after the security investment has been rejected and the attachment has been opened.

Sometimes an IT security pro's job is hell.

To stay sane - and effective at the job - it helps to have an outlet to relieve the pressure. For Bill Boni, Motorola's corporate vice president of information security and protection, the way to do that is to send toy troops into battle. Since the 1970s, he has passionately pursued the art of Little Wars, a tabletop exercise where the player creates armies of miniature soldiers. Using a set of rules H.G. Wells created in 1913, he maneuvers them over hostile terrain to engage opponents in battles that end in victory or defeat.

"Leading a miniature army into simulated conflicts to victory or defeat allows me to sublimate those unresolved frustrations and release stress in a way that I have found relaxing and energizing," Boni says.

He recently expanded his collection to include science fiction-themed units to recreate futuristic battles from films and books like "Starship Troopers" and "Hammer Slammers." In his humble opinion, it beats video games.

CSOonline.com conducted an unscientific poll and found that IT security pros turn to a variety of stress relievers to keep mind and body intact. Here are some of them:

How to martial strength
Not surprisingly, several of those polled said they rely on the martial arts to vent out the day's trauma. Chris Hoff, chief security architect in the systems and technology division at Unisys and an advisor at Skybox Security, gets his kicks from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ)
.

He trains up to six times a week and describes it as "violent kinetic chess" â¬ an "incredible" workout that mixes cerebral situational awareness with athleticism, technique, strategy and focus.

"When I lived in Southern California, my outlet for stress revolved around speed - the go-fast world of 600-plus HP supercharged Mustangs, 125cc shifter karts and my motorcycles," Hoff says. Since moving to New England nearly three years ago, however, he says life has gotten a little more pedestrian and family-focused. His love for the martial arts has been percolating for the last year or so. "The beauty of BJJ is that you have to focus 100 percent on what you're doing And as such, the rest of the world fades away. You leave the stress, sweat and sometimes blood on the mat."