Category: News

TippingPoint Technologies launched spyware protection for its UnityOne intrusion- prevention systems. Earlier in the month, Check Point Software Technologies unveiled similar antispyware capabilities for its VPN-1 device.

And solution providers say they’re seeing the need for perimeter security devices that protect against spyware as well as other threats go through the roof.

Today, vendors such as Secure Computing and Internet Security Systems, which have incorporated firewall, VPN and antivirus capability into one box for years, are now adding new capabilities to fight adware, keystroke loggers and other forms of malware.

“As a network administrator, you don’t want this conga line of boxes that you have to manage,” said Richard Hanke, vice president of product management at Fortinet, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company credited with inventing the integrated security appliance.

Across the industry, spyware has risen steadily since January—a recent study co-sponsored by America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance indicated that eight out of 10 computers are infected by some form of spyware. Then came innovation in the form of point solutions. Earlier this month, Computer Associates International and McAfee each released spyware-specific solutions for enterprises and consumers.

While Fortinet is relatively new to the antispyware movement, fellow Silicon Valley vendor BlueCoat has been incorporating spyware protection in its ProxyAV device for years.

http://www.crn.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=DWELBERQ4QWKYQSNDBCSKHSCJUMEKJVN?articleID=54200212

The letter, signed by representatives of the DHS, Symantec, Microsoft, McAfee, and Trend Micro, said the industry hopes to address “the challenges surrounding the ‘Virus Name Game’,” with a pilot program coming as early as January.

At first, Common Malware Enumeration (CME) will be confined to “major” threats. Names are often derived from the filenames, the content of the email the worm attaches itself to, or plaintext found inside the code.

http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=11D11704-DE5B-45BD-AF4B-45D8F44E055C

Sarbanes-Oxley may strike dread in the hearts of some IT executives, but not Tracy Austin. Austin, the chief information officer with casino operator Mandalay Resort Group, said the financial reporting regulations act resulted in a 30 percent increase in her information technology budget this year and battle-tested her fairly young IT staff. “I was able to beef up our test and development system budget, as well as our firewall and intrusion detection system budget,” Austin said. “Sarbanes-Oxley opened up the awareness of our (chief) executives and prompted questions about…our business risks. So instead of talking about technology, we were talking about what are our business risks and the technology to address them.”

That’s because the regulations laid down in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other laws hold executives’ feet to the fire, making them responsible for signing off on the accuracy of their financial statements. Last week, a key section of Sarbanes-Oxley kicked in, turning up the heat. That push to overhaul systems looks likely to be a boon for security technology providers.

Overall spending on complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is expected to reach $5.5 billion this year, according to a recent survey by AMR Research. That’s more than double the $2.5 billion that was spent last year.

And technology companies are expected to grab nearly a third of the multibillion-dollar spending pie in 2005. Companies are spending more on compliance in general, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey released on Tuesday, which found that about half of U.S. and European businesses expect to increase those budgets by an average of 23 percent during the next year to two.

http://news.zdnet.com/Hidden+gold+in+corporate+cleanup/2100-1009_22-5465305.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnn

Steve Vamos told attendees at an Australian Information Industry Association event in Adelaide yesterday the security issue was “essentially …

Vamos’ blunt comments come as Microsoft struggles to deal with a raft of flaws uncovered in its flagship Web browser, Internet Explorer (IE), attempts by malicious code writers to disrupt its monthly patching cycle and security researchers’ preparedness to disclose vulnerabilities to all community members at the same time rather than give the vendor some lead time to devise a fix before going public. The Microsoft Australia boss also launched an assault on the software heavyweight’s other bugbear of the moment, competition from Linux and open source solutions.

The use of open source software by government agencies was very much at the forefront of the recent federal election campaign, with all major political parties detailing publicly their policy stance on the issue. The federal government in late August released a guide saying it was preparing a range of tools to help agencies evaluate emerging open source solutions against more familiar proprietary software “on an informed basis”.

“…my view is very straightforward…that whatever alternatives our customers have, be they open source or not, if they are better value for money and better fit for purpose than what Microsoft have, then we’ve got a problem.” Vamos said he viewed the shift to the use of software as a service as “a much bigger movement” than the open source community. The Microsoft boss also said in the corporate arena, rather than just having the chief information officer pushing the IT agenda in the top team, every member of that team had to sign up to it.

http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/0,2000061744,39167795,00.htm

The Air Force is consolidating its 38 software contracts and nine support contracts with Microsoft into two all-encompassing, agencywide agreements, according to a statement seen by CNET News.com.

The contract, done in conjunction with Dell, will call for the installation and configuration of software as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrades.

The deal, which includes 525,000 licenses of Microsoft’s Windows and Office, is valued at $500 million over six years, according to Microsoft.

The move is part of the “One Air Force, One Network” strategy that the Air Force plans to announce Friday. An Air Force representative confirmed many details of the announcement, including that it is expected to save the agency $100 million over six years.

“The consolidation will result in standard configurations for all Microsoft desktop and server software,” the Air Force said in the statement. “The standard configurations will enforce rigorous security profiles and will be updated online with security patches and software updates.”

Microsoft representatives confirmed that the company will work with the Air Force to define security configurations for the agency’s desktop and servers. The representatives also said the deal includes an agencywide help desk service contract.

The Air Force deal differs from that of other government agencies because it will involve more custom work around security, and because the Air Force has taken an agencywide approach to procuring software and services, said Curt Kolcun, the general manager of Microsoft’s federal business.

“By working together in this way, we can get a better understanding of what we need to do to our technology and how it will be applicable for commercial products, as well as other agencies,” he said.

http://news.zdnet.com/Air+Force+turns+to+Microsoft+for+network+security/2100-1009_22-5457344.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnn

http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/newslog/2004/11/22.html#a761