How does your company enforce data security? I bet most of your answers will involve procedures based on host applications that have varying degrees of sophistication, depending on how much is at stake with a security breach.
Although a bottle of bogus Viagra might prove to be a big disappointment, a counterfeit bottle of a heart medication such as Lipitor could be deadly.
Why didn't this happen sooner? Seagate Technology has just announced a hard disk drive for laptops and other mobile devices that automatically encrypts all data as it goes into and comes out of the drive. Result: Nothing on the drive is accessible unless you know the password. If you lose your laptop with a drive like this installed, that's all you lose. The data is safe from prying eyes -- a thief can't even boot it up.
How do you know that you've covered all the bases when it comes to wireless LAN security?
You would probably imagine that a company that writes and sells software would make the protection of that software paramount. That's why it's hard to believe that my company has implemented no comprehensive efforts to prevent its bread-and-butter software falling into the wrong hands.
With its Self-Defending Network strategy, focus on adaptive threat defense and Network Admission Control initiative, Cisco has become the largest network security provider and trusted network player in the industry. What Cisco is doing is putting automated protections into the network to defend against the harmful effects of viruses, worms and exploits. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer should personally thank John Chambers for the investment he is making in network security to fix what is mostly a Microsoft-inflicted industry problem.
There's a new name in SSL VPNs and it is Fortinet. The company is adding SSL VPN software to the standard package loaded on its FortiGate hardware, making it an SSL VPN gateway in addition to all the other stuff it does.
Why we have become a community of parrots
Information insecurity is costing us billions. We pay for it in theft information and financial theft. We pay for it in productivity loss, both when networks stop working and in the dozens of minor security inconveniences we all have to endure. We pay for it when we have to buy security products and services to reduce those other two losses. We pay for security, year after year.
In 2004, information security professionals will experience more of the darker side of human behavior, but organizations will also take more control over their network and computing infrastructures, particularly end-user systems.
Between power outages and worm scares, I’ve been too busy to sleep, bathe, or buy food. Apache has eaten everything in the house and is now gnawing old copies of Accidental Empires. That dog can stomach anything.
IN a recent review of several enterprise antivirus packages, the use of multiple antivirus engines was something that was considered an important characteristic. In fact, the antivirus solution that got the best score, GFI’s MailSecurity, can use multiple antivirus engines to beef up virus scans. While working on a companion piece for that review, I noticed that the antivirus market leaders, Symantec and Network Associates, didn’t follow this practice. They used one engine for their email server products — their own.
Over the past 12 to 18 months, IDC has witnessed a major shift in the role security plays within Australasian organisations. No longer just a peripheral technology, security is becoming a critical enabler of business continuity, and is directly linked to the survivability of an organisation.
There is more to security than disaster recovery - much, much more and not all of it with such viciously negative connotations.
I'm not going to be able to get through this column without mentioning September 11 just a few times. There, I warned you.
Disaster recovery has moved up the list of priorities on the Australian business agenda, but there are fears the channel has niched itself too far to be able to take advantage of the current market interest.
Balancing unpredictability with astute forward planning is part and parcel of being successful in business. If you are good at it, the chances are you'll earn a decent crust. If you're not, eventually you'll find yourself barking up the wrong tree and compromised as a viable business.
