Today many organizations find themselves addressing concerns over their proprietary information being stolen and their systems being compromised. Some may view this as a single problem since, in most cases, system compromise is an overture to information theft. The most common ways in which computers are compromised include visiting a web site with malicious content, opening a harmful file — malicious or otherwise — attached to an e-mail message, running a program of dubious provenance and clicking the “yes” button on every message that pops up on the screen. Organizations are fighting back by installing virus scanners, blocking known malicious web sites, filtering incoming e-mail and locking down (aka “hardening”) operating systems as much as possible. But let us take a step back and think about this whole situation again.

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Tags: culture, Internet and life, security

Cryptography has been, and continues to be, the most important and ubiquitous aspect of security services (firewall, secure access, VPN, authentication). There is a vast number of cryptographic algorithms and techniques that provide information security features that are used in different protocols and functions. It is important to be able to understand the challenges, attacks, and concerns of cryptographic algorithms in order to be able to use them efficiently. Just as important is the ability to follow the latest developments in the field so that we can be “as secure as possible.” This post is trying to present the latest transformations in the cryptography field to raise awareness on what the status quo is on recommended algorithms and key sizes.

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Tags: crypto, security

For corporations, Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) is a widely publicized yet little understood topic.  Does it exist?  Is it a real threat?  How can an organization tell if it is impacted?

The Cisco Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) is a global team of information security professionals responsible for the 24/7 monitoring, investigation and response to cyber security incidents for Cisco-owned businesses. CSIRT engages in proactive threat assessment, mitigation planning, incident detection and response, incident trending with analysis, and the development of security architecture. This article will provide the Cisco CSIRT team’s perspective on APT, and is the fifth in a series of blog posts on related issues from CSIRT’s point of view.  As with the other posts, provided here are some real-world examples and techniques that will hopefully help organizations utilize existing tools and processes, or even understand gaps in security infrastructure.  Read on to find out more.

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Tags: advanced persistent threat, APT, CSIRT, security, TRAC

These 5 building blocks will help ensure your network supports your business today and in the future.

If you’re just beginning to build your network for a fledgling small business or you’re expanding the network of a more established smaller company, you should plan your network with an eye toward preparing your business for growth. Your network should be a secure, reliable foundation; one that’s flexible and can adapt to the changing needs of your business as well as give you a competitive edge.

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Tags: networking, remote access, security, small business, unified communications, wireless

I was reading an article recently about what auditors really think about the security and compliance requirements that they test for when doing a PCI DSS compliance audit. I was more than a little surprised to read that over 60% of the 505 auditors in the study referenced said the organizations they audit don’t believe compliance improves their data security effectiveness. I’m a bit perplexed by that. After all, there are only 12 requirements in the PCS DSS specification, and they seem pretty straightforward and simple to me. Read More »

Tags: compliance, government, merchant, military, pci, retail, security