In the late 80's and
90's, most of the projects I was involved with were about converting paper
based systems to computer entry, mostly PCs. In those days, it was very easy
for a project to show results. Even a poorly designed system could easily show
dramatic productivity improvement by replacing paper based data with digital
data. But that was just the beginning.
Increasingly,
technological progress revolves around the accumulation, use and leveraging of
data.
Google built an industry
based on leveraging data it obtained from users of its free services. That's
the business model for Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.
However, it goes way beyond those types of advertising based industries.
If you want to be
successful in today's competitive business environment you must be able to
obtain and utilize data from your customer's and operations. That means that
data is a precious asset that is to be coveted and protected. Data has never
been more important to business and commerce and it has also never been so at
risk.
Almost every day there
is a story in the news about an organization that failed to protect its data
assets.
In February, we learned
that the hacker group Anonymous had breached a Federal Reserve system used to
communicate with bankers in emergencies, such as natural disasters or other
crises. On Super Bowl Sunday, Anonymous published the personal information of
4,000 bank executives in what they called their own Super Bowl Ad!
Yahoo recently revealed
that hackers had stolen over 400,000 user credentials. Earlier this year, Yahoo
Japan revealed that the credentials of 22 million users had been compromised.
Hackers can use these credentials to steal user information and impersonate
users in phishing expeditions.
Protecting your data begins
with the business processes that accumulate data from operations and
interactions with customers and vendors. Increasingly those interactions occur
online via the web. Your customer's need to feel free to trust you with their
personal and financial information. That is why e-Commerce sites use Enhanced
Verification (EV) SSL. The greenbar on the browser and the Trust Seal they can
display send a message that they are a merchant to be trusted.
However, securing your
connections with SSL is just one part of data security and maintaining customer
trust. If hackers can breach your network they may access your database systems
and infect your web sites with malware. That is why it worth using scanning
services that identify threats and security issues with your site. Such
services may assist with PCI compliance, necessary to be able to accept bank
credit card.
The Federal Reserve
reported that the February Anonymous breach was the result of vulnerability in
a vendor product used on their web site. That is exactly the type of
vulnerability that such scanning services are designed to identify.
Protecting your public
facing web site is a high priority today, but every device that connects to
your network is a potential entry point to a data breach Hackers are increasingly
using the techniques of Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), and the key word
here is persistent. If they can identify just one access point to breach, no
matter how seemingly insignificant, they have proven the ability to slowly work
their way through a network to high value targets.
In the age of BYOD, this
is a challenge that demands specialized software for managing end point
security. Endpoint security management (ESM)
software is used to make sure that all devices that connect to your network
have the latest firewall, antivirus protection and conform to your security
policies.
Protecting your data,
your customers and your reputation requires constant vigilance and a commitment
to internet security and the latest
technology.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Judge
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7937572
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