Latest SME and SMB security News

Smart Locks Control Access at Australian College
posted on 25/01/2010

Set in extensive grounds in West Essendon, Melbourne, St. Bernard's College is a single-gender Catholic Secondary School offering a wide range of quality education to approximately 1300 young male students from Year 7 through to Year 12. The college is administered as two separate campuses - Years 7 to 9 and Years 10 to 12 - who share the same site. Jason Blakey, St Bernard’s College IT Manager, says “Safety and security is something we take very seriously so management of students, staff and visitors is crucial for the college. Our existing mechanical keyed system was proving ever more costly to maintain so we looked at replacing it by trialling an American security product. This, however, did not perform to expectations as we needed a solution that could not only handle our present access control requirements, but also take care of additional functions such as integration with photocopiers and library systems as required. We needed a future proof access control system that had a pr... [more]

Organisations must destroy their confidential data securely or face heavy fines
posted on 21/01/2010

Jack Straw, the secretary of state for justice, recently ruled that The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has the power to enforce hefty fines to organisations who seriously breach the Data Protection Act by failing to secure confidential data appropriately. Confidential data breaches committed by businesses could now result in a £500,000 fine. If threatened with a penalty the Information Commissioner will take a business’s turnover, sector, size and the data breach into account before considering a fine. This will be determined by: · Carefully considering the circumstances, including the seriousness of the data breach · The likelihood of substantial damage and distress to individuals · Whether the breach was deliberate or negligent and what reasonable steps the organisation has taken to prevent breaches Jim Watson, managing director of Shred Easy, said: “These heavy fines are a warning to all organisations to destroy their confidential data securely. ... [more]

Engate and IBM offer a security suite that proactively protects SMBs from a diversity of email-borne threats
posted on 21/01/2010

Engate Technology Corporation has integrated its security software suite with IBM® Lotus® Foundations Start line of software appliances for small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). Lotus Foundations Start plug and play appliances help companies with little or no in-house technical resources to focus on running their business rather than managing their computer systems. This Linux-based IBM solution provides staple collaboration tools such as email, file sharing, and remote access and affords peace of mind through automated network security features, data protection, backup and recovery. With Engate, Lotus Foundations Start will offer a security suite that proactively protects SMBs from a diversity of email-borne threats. Botnets are one of the most dangerous online security threats today where an estimated 40% of the 800 million computers on the Internet unsuspectingly distribute spam, steal private data, launch dangerous attacks, and spread new infections. In particular, SMBs face u... [more]

New technologies can provide cost-effective security services to vacant properties
posted on 18/01/2010

Property companies and commercial landlords should review their vacant property portfolios as the commercial property market is showing signs of recovery. IPD has reported that the 3rd quarter of 2009 marked the first growth in UK commercial property values since 2007. Yet recent reports indicate that repairs and maintenance budgets for vacant property that were drastically cut a year ago have not yet been restored. Consequently, many buildings need a lot of work before they can be let. Regular property inspections and promptly carried out maintenance work will ensure that buildings are kept airtight and watertight, and will minimise the security risks. However, Mark Cosh at SitexOrbis points out that clients should look for new technologies that can provide cost-effective property maintenance and security services to ensure that vacant property is ready for re-letting early in 2010. He makes the point that SitexOrbis has developed a full range of security and property protection s... [more]

Downloading illegal content at work puts companies at risk legally and from malware infection
posted on 14/01/2010

Over the years, consumers have taken a carefree approach to illegally downloading music, not expecting to be held accountable for their actions. High-speed Internet connections have enabled even faster illegal downloads and alarmingly, more and more people are choosing to do so in the workplace. A US student, Joel Tenenbaum, has recently been fined $675,000 (£421,000) for illegally downloading music. The court case focused on 30 tracks that Tenenbaum admitted downloading – he was subsequently fined $22,500 per song. Often, an employer will be held legally responsible for any wrongful acts committed by an employee ‘in the course of their employment’. This phrase is very widely constructed – an act may be considered ‘in the course of employment’ even if it is expressly prohibited by the employer, a principle known as ‘vicarious liability’. Even if a legal claim is unsuccessful, dealing with claims can make very substantial demands on management time and involve significant legal co... [more]

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