Latest Security management and policies News

SCADA systems could host a soft underbelly for Cyber Attacks
posted on 26/09/2011

On 9th of September 2011, a power outage in the US affected 5 million people in the area of Southern California. The root cause analysis of which is said to have been one single employee switching out a piece of problematic equipment. The upshot of this single act is nevertheless extremely worrying, as it manifested in traffic chaos, cancelation of flights, the shutting down of two nuclear reactors, a widespread impact on business, and on the residents. This event does, however, raise a number of questions and points back to the long debate about the security of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, which are considered, in some cases, to host a soft underbelly for Cyber Attack. There is also the question of timing – whilst I do understand the public notice, let us be honest here – if this were anything other than a mistake by an employee, would the public really expect to be told? Additionally, if a single employee’s mistake, with just one piece equipment can hav... [more]

Consumers have reason to be concerned about the safety of their personal information
posted on 26/09/2011

According to SailPoint’s Market Pulse Survey, the majority of adults in the United States, Great Britain and Australia are worried about possible exposure of their personal information, and a large percentage of adults have lost confidence in how companies protect their personal information. Over the last several years, financial institutions, retailers and healthcare organizations around the world have become frequent victims of data breaches. As more and more breaches are reported that impact large numbers of consumers, customers are losing confidence in the organizations they once trusted. In the second part of the recent SailPoint Market Pulse Survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive, consumers expressed cynicism about how these organizations are protecting their data and a willingness to leave a business that experienced a breach. 80% of Americans, 81% of Britons and 83% of Australians who have personal medical information are concerned about moving that information to a... [more]

Only 25 per cent of employees have tried to bypass company security policies while at work
posted on 21/09/2011

Surveying more than 2,500 employees in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, a new research from Webroot has revealed that only about 25 per cent of employees have tried to bypass company security policies while at work, while nearly all (95 per cent) respect the importance of their employer’s measures for protecting their network and customer information. Webroot also found that executive or senior management staff performed non-work related activities during work at a higher rate than their subordinates. For example, 41 percent of executives reported planning personal events such as holidays, weddings or parties while on the clock, while just 35 per cent of regular, full-time employees reported doing similar activities. “It is a pleasant surprise to learn that employees understand the need for increased security and abide by corporate policy,” said Jacques Erasmus, chief information security officer for Webroot. “That said, employees at all levels still introduce risk to... [more]

Companies now need to keep track of their data as never before
posted on 19/09/2011

According to recent research from Varonis Systems Inc., almost two-thirds of IT professionals are concerned about security issues associated with the use of personal devices in the workplace and highlights the fact that data in the digital age has become as portable as the devices it is stored on, says Varonis Systems. This research, which was conducted by Dell Kace, took in the responses of 750 key IT security professionals and shows that they are worried about the rise of what some people are calling the consumerisation of IT in the workplace. The conclusions of this report should also act as a wake-up call to IT security professionals about what is happening to their organisation's data in the modern world According to David Gibson, director of technical marketing and strategic accounts with Varonis, this major study highlights the fact that almost 90 per cent of employees use their own laptops, tablet computers and mobile phones for work-related tasks, it's clear that companies ... [more]

Implementing policies to manage online interactions is of crucial importance for the security of the UK government
posted on 16/09/2011

With Facebook being used by half the UK population, equating to 30 million, and Twitter being used by 13 percent of the population, 7 million people, the potential to inadvertently leak proprietary data through these channels is huge. According to a survey conducted by Axway, which looked at 500 public sector IT staff in the UK, 14 percent have no social media policy at all that public sector employees must adhere to. This means that many workers within the public sector - have never seen a social media policy. At the same time, the number of UK companies blocking access to social media in the past year increased by a fifth, with a third of companies now blocking social media. Given that the public sector is the largest UK employer, with roughly 6.2 million employees and 506,000 of these working in the civil service alone, the issue of implementing policies to manage online interactions is of crucial importance for the security of the UK government. “It’s an on-going challenge f... [more]

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