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Data Security, Terrorism Top Executive Worries

Posted on December 22, 2006December 30, 2021 by admini

The poll also shows that corporate malfeasance worries about 40% of executives.

“No business can survive without customer trust,” Mike Dabadie, a division president at Harris Interactive, said in a written statement. Any breach of data security that would compromise that trust can have a devastating impact on the company’s reputation.”

Forty percent of those polled said they have put in use a crisis management plan, and of those executives, 85% said they were either very or somewhat satisfied with those plans.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;?articleID=196701706

Financial Institutions Face Tight Compliance Requirements in 2007

Posted on December 22, 2006December 30, 2021 by admini

IT security needs to understand the meaning of legal terms such as material weakness, and translate them into actionable policies.

For the past ten years, governments and industry groups have enacted and published regulations in an effort to curb corporate financial malfeasance, identity theft and inappropriate access to personal data. Added to the challenge is that IT environments are constantly changing and new regulations are being added to the compliance mix.

In Congress alone, there have been 25 bills focusing on cybersecurity, 130 bills focusing on the security of personal information, 57 bills focusing on information security, and 12 bills focusing on data security. In addition, most states have enacted laws modeled after California’s data privacy law, which mandates disclosure of any security breach involving personal information. This requires the development of authentication mechanisms that go well beyond simple passwords in order to establish a trusted identity for individuals within an organization.

http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=174&PHPSESSID=963ae7f1aee8a5e4d1d89c06937bbab7

Security 2007: keeping ahead of the hackers

Posted on December 21, 2006December 30, 2021 by admini

The fifth most significant danger was identified as zero-day threats, which accounted for between 10 and 15 per cent of all threats blocked by ScanSafe in 2006.

The sixth prediction is the death of the perimeter, where remote and roaming users pose significant challenges to traditional notions of perimeter security.

Even more concerning is that, according to the Business Performance Management Forum, 40 per cent of enterprises do not have policies to secure mobile devices.

While this will result in lower telephony costs, it will also open companies to a wide variety of threats that are not necessarily being contemplated because many companies still do not perceive a VoIP phone as a ‘computer’. The result is that VoIP devices and servers will be subject to the same type of vulnerabilities as any other computer, including denial of service attacks, theft of service, fraud and phishing attacks.

Finally, no 2007 web security predictions would be complete without a reference to Microsoft’s Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7. ScanSafe believes that Vista will probably not see widespread deployment in enterprises in 2007, and that corporate users will remain the weakest link in the chain because Vista is not designed for centralised management or reporting.

http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/analysis/2171428/christmas-keep-ahead-hackers

Singapore: Cyber-security challenges set to grow in 2007

Posted on December 21, 2006December 30, 2021 by admini

Indeed, recognising that money is now the driving force behind most malicious hacking attempts, the local financial sector has already taken steps to tighten security for their Internet transactions. This comes after several attempts by hackers to spoof the online banking portals of local banks, with OCBC falling prey to such a phishing scam earlier this year. To meet a mandate spelt out by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, banks operating in Singapore have all rolled out so-called two-factor authentication tools in the last few months.

Threats have become Web-based and these have exploited those who have become comfortable with making transactions online,’ added Trend Micro’s Mr Chong. While technology-based defences are improving, they must be complemented by a security-conscious mindset to be more effective. ‘It has been especially challenging trying to educate Singaporeans about the risks on the Internet and thus to educate them on how to get protected,’ said Mr Chong. ‘In Asia, consumers are still thinking about virus attacks on a big scale, while the consumers in the US and Europe are already feeling the impact of targeted attacks that have caused financial losses through the compromise of their personal information,’ he added.

http://business-times.asiaone.com/sub/bizit/story/0,4574,218959,00.html?

Check Point to acquire NFR Security

Posted on December 19, 2006December 30, 2021 by admini

The acquisition of Rockville, Md.-based NFR Security, founded a decade ago by IDS pioneer Marcus Ranum, follows Check Points failure earlier this year to complete the acquisition of IDS and IPS vendor Sourcefire. NFR Security, which has 22 employees, does not publish figures related to its earnings. While not discussing NFR Securitys exact earnings, Shwed acknowledged NFR isnt a big money-maker, but it isnt losing money.

Gartner analyst John Pescatore said the NFR Security acquisition is clearly a replacement for the failed merger with Sourcefire. Pescatore said the merger between Check Point and NFR Security will probably work out well because NFR Security has good technologies that can be combined with Check Points strength in firewalls and management.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/121906-check-point-acquires-nfr-security.html

Targeted security attacks on the rise

Posted on December 15, 2006December 30, 2021 by admini

Corporate and industrial espionage attacks are on the rise using targeted trojans intended to steal intellectual property and confidential information, according to the 2006 Annual MessageLabs Intelligence Report.

Mark Sunner, chief technology officer at MessageLabs said: ‘2006 was the year that spammers took the security industry by storm and showcased their new tactics and techniques for mass disruption.

Now accounting for almost nine out of 10 emails, spam has categorically shed its title of being a nuisance and is a perilous threat which all companies need to be protected against.’

A key component in the success of these highly targeted attacks is the distribution of spyware and adware which has grown into a multibillion dollar industry and fuelled an increase in the number of botnets being created.

http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2171089/targeted-attacks-rise