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45% of European IT Decision Makers View Security and SLAs as Leading Barriers to Cloud

secExtra — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:47:40 +0000

INTERXION HOLDING NV, a leading European provider of carrier-neutral colocation data centre services, today announced the results of its cloud computing survey, which found that 45% of European IT decision makers view a lack of security and service level agreements (SLAs) as top concerns for moving to the cloud. Created with service providers (SPs) and system integrators (SIs) in mind – two of the key groups supporting companies’ transition to the cloud – the survey results aim to provide a clear understanding of how organisations are using the cloud today and plan to be using the cloud tomorrow. The perceived challenges of moving to the cloud also include apprehension of being locked into a specific infrastructure vendor, as cited by 40% of respondents. Under the umbrella of security concerns, preventing data loss was stated as the main fear overall, with 71% of respondents identifying it as one of their top three security concerns. However, preventing outages, rated second with 64%, and was cited most often as the top issue due to the severe impact outages can have on business processes and bottom line performance. Despite the concerns of deploying to the cloud, the survey found that 69% of European IT [...]

Attackers Use Fake Friends to Blend into Facebook

secExtra — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 19:25:13 +0000

Facebook: Fake Profiles vs. Real Users. The study analyzes a random sampling of 2,884 active Facebook accounts to identify key differences between average real user accounts and fake accounts created by attackers and spammers. Facebook, which filed for IPO, has become an important part of personal and business communication. The company consistently fights to keep attackers out of its network, most recently announcing its lawsuit against a marketing firm accused of “spreading spam through misleading and deceptive tactics”. The Barracuda Labs study provides yet another example of this “arms race” as an increasing number of attackers move to social networks to carry out their wares. Highlighted findings from the Barracuda Labs study include: Almost 60 percent of fake accounts claim to be bisexual, 10 times more than real users Fake accounts have six times more friends than real users, 726 versus 130 Fake accounts use photo tags over 100 times more than real users, 136 tags per four photos versus one tag per four photos Fake accounts almost always (97 percent) claim to be female, as opposed to 40 percent for real users “Likes, News Feeds and Apps have helped lead Facebook to its social network dominance and now attackers [...]

Youngsters assume smartphones are secure

secExtra — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:54:04 +0000

With only 13% of the 2.8 million children in the UK now owning a smartphone using a security solution, many youngsters are putting themselves at risk. **(source: Carphone Warehouse/YouGov). With the explosive popularity of smartphones and tablets, particularly Android devices, children are not yet fully aware of the dangers that apply when using such gadgets. Eddy Willems, Security Evangelist at G Data, comments: “Today’s children are more digitally advanced than ever before, but as a result are less cautious than their elders. If kids are old enough to use a mobile device, they need to realise that such a device still requires a robust security solution. From malicious apps to the dangers of public Wi-Fi, children also need to be educated about the security risks.” Willems continues: “Safer Internet Day is a great initiative and G Data fully supports it. Children are the future and it is important they are made aware of the risks so they can discover the digital world safely.” G Data’s top 5 mobile security tips for kids: 1. Fake Apps One ploy used by cyber criminals is fraudulent apps for tablet PCs or smartphones with Android operating systems. In most cases the app pretends to [...]

Web security company calls on UK Government to make Kitemark for Child Online Safety compulsory for public sector

secExtra — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:02:18 +0000

iomart Group plc, one of the UK’s leading web hosting companies, is today calling on the UK Government to insist that all public sector organisations with a duty of care to children should only purchase software products that have been awarded the BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety. iomart Group’s stance follows the announcement by the Science and Technology Select Committee, that the UK Government should consider imposing safety standards on software sold if self-regulation isn’t adopted by the IT industry. iomart’s web security software Netintelligence, which provides internet protection for 100,000s of school children and families in the UK, is the first and only such software to carry the BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety. Netintelligence was awarded the Kitemark by Children and Families Minister Tim Loughton in January 2011. So far, no other UK software company has taken up the accreditation and the government has not supported the Kitemark publicly. The BSI Kitemark for Child Online Safety is a certification scheme for internet website filtering software produced by software manufacturers. These products can be bought as stand-alone products from computer retailers or come as part of an operating system or ISP package. The software’s ease of use, reliability, [...]

2012 UK Fraud Predictions

secExtra — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:54:42 +0000

Leading fraud consultancy UK Fraud has set out 10 predictions for the domestic fraud prevention market in 2012. The predictions are: 1. That the NFA (National Fraud Authority) will face major political pressure to deliver a fraud strategy that will make a real difference. The government will demand that it starts to demonstrate measurable annual fraud savings. These could be expected to be more than £10 billion. Simultaneously, there will be an increasingly public tussle for funds with the government’s new Cyber Crime operation. The NFA will also face mounting pressure to adopt a more pan European and global perspective to combat fraud hitting the UK from overseas territories. 2. With the volume of traffic for e-commerce transactions increasing, fraudsters will target individual merchants and merchant groups. As a result, there will be: a. More co-operation across the merchant sector. b. More disintermediation of the merchant acquirer services. c. Greater use and development of acquirer anti-fraud enrichment services. d. Payment Service Providers (PSPs) will become more prevalent, with fraud solutions provided as an integrated part of the service they offer. e. Greater dissatisfaction with many existing fraud solutions, particularly with those that are less well conceived. 3. The USA has [...]

76% of SMBs under pressure to allow more access to Web 2.0 tools

secExtra — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:48:53 +0000

76% of SMBs (small and mid-size business) surveyed in a poll carried out by SpamTitan Technologies stated that they are under pressure to allow more access to Web 2.0. Almost half, 44.4%, said that they do not have security in place to protect from Web 2.0 specific threats. The business web filtering solutions provider encourages SMBs to deploy formal social media policies. Forrester predicts the market for social enterprise apps will grow from $600 million in 2011 to $6.4 billion by 2016. The next decade is going to be a challenge to small business owners as they battle to make IT budgets stretch to deliver new tools without any downside. Said Ronan Kavanagh, CEO, SpamTitan Technologies. “Social media in the enterprise represents a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it opens up new business opportunities and powerful ways to engage with a company’s customer base. However, on the other hand, it can expose business to new risks such as security threats and reduced network productivity.” He concluded, “With different research studies showing that between 30-40% of SMB malware threats originate from social media sites, it is imperative that small business owners take a close look at their IT and social [...]

Flashpoints: The terrorist threat outlook in 2012

secExtra — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:36:39 +0000

Counter Terror Expo 2012 delegates are set to discover how the momentous events that have occurred during the past year, will force us to reassess and realign counter terrorism strategies to meet potential new threats emerging from the turmoil we have witnessed. Previously hard-line autocracies across a swathe of North Africa have been toppled in popular uprisings; significant civil unrest has occurred in Middle East countries where demand for change continues to be heard loudly, political turmoil in some South Asian nations has given rise to fears a period of dangerous instability may be looming, whilst insurgency in some Sub Saharan countries has led to jihadist inspired terrorist atrocities. Escalating belligerence from Iran, a rapidly deepening political crisis in Pakistan, continuing instability in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, widespread civil unrest in Syria and Yemen and extremist sponsored violence in Nigeria, all combine to set the stage for an uncertain year ahead and have the potential to directly threaten stability elsewhere in the world. These issues have emerged at a time of significant fiscal crisis amongst leading world economies; thus presenting a substantial challenge to industry professionals tasked with delivering effective countermeasures in constrained circumstance. This is the fractious backdrop against [...]

57% Believe A Cyber Arms Race Is Currently Taking Place

secExtra — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:17:05 +0000

McAfee and the Security and Defence Agenda (SDA) today revealed the findings from a report; Cyber-security: The Vexed Question of Global Rules that paints, for the first time, a global snapshot of current thinking about the cyber-threat and the measures that should be taken to defend against them, and assesses the way ahead. The SDA, the leading defense and security think-tank in Brussels, interviewed leading global security experts to ensure findings would offer usable recommendations and actions. The report was created to identify key debate areas and trends and to help to governments and organisations understand how their cyber defense posture compares to those of other countries and organisations. Here are some noted findings: · 57% of global experts believe that an arms race is taking place in cyber space. · 36% believe cybersecurity is more important than missile defense. · 43% identified damage or disruption to critical infrastructure as the greatest single threat posed by cyber-attacks with wide economic consequences (up from 37% in McAfee’s 2010 Critical Infrastructure Report). · 45% of respondents believe that cybersecurity is as important as border security. · The state of cyber-readiness of the United States, Australia, UK, China and Germany all ranked behind [...]

It’s all about security says Simplexo

secExtra — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:39:59 +0000

The latest research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has again highlighted end user concerns over migrating to a Cloud service model. The research conducted in December 2011 highlighted that widely held view that many organisations cite their number one concern, namely the mitigation of risk, when committing data to the Cloud. According to Simplexo, a member of CIF and UK search specialist, it’s time to focus the issue of security, if the Cloud is factually going to be something meaningful in everyday computing life, and stop focusing on the fear, uncertainty and doubt. Simon Bain, CTO, at Simplexo, states: “CIF conducted a highly detailed survey into user adoption levels and trends. When asked to name the most significant concerns about Cloud adoption, users were clear that data security and privacy stood out above all others at 62 per cent and 55 per cent respectively.” “I am obviously a believer in using the ‘Cloud’ as a way forward for both personal and corporate life. However, there are certain guidelines that I think need to be adhered to before we all start throwing our hard disks away and placing everything in to the hands of others.” “Let’s be clear – Clouds [...]

ControlCircle urges organisations to plan ahead to avoid Olympic disruptions

secExtra — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:57:45 +0000

Companies need to be proactive to avoid disruption during the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, advises ControlCircle, a leading UK managed service provider. Organisations need to be implementing plans now if they are to ensure business continuity across the wide spectrum of risk areas, ranging from ensuring staff productivity to maintaining optimal performance of their IT infrastructure. While a number of options are available to businesses, implementing them will become increasingly more challenging in the run up to the Games. For example, aggressive working from home policies during the Games may require greater connectivity and security measures while lead times for these types of services will be impacted by increased demand, coupled with imposed freezes on digs and underground works. “We recommend businesses complete a full review of logistical and logical pressure points, from accessing the data centre to assessing their web traffic profile and security risks,” said Carmen Carey, CEO of ControlCircle. “Access to, and mobility around Greater London will be severely disrupted during the extended Olympic period. This, coupled with bandwidth demand and security risks at an all time high, means it will not be viable to adhere to a business as usual approach.” In anticipation of these events, [...]