Are you in business to make money or lose it? For most people, the answer to this question is a no brainer! As a security professional, I truly believe that security can impact your bottom line. It is key to protecting your most vulnerable business asset – your data. If your business has anything worth protecting, whether it’s money, intellectual property, or a trusted...
Security and risk awareness have been part of the lives of humans from the very earliest days. At its core, security focuses on keeping things safe. In a business environment, complete safety can restrict access and availability, and is therefore impractical. Focusing solely on security, without balancing associated risk, is unrealistic, as businesses need to take certain risks to grow and be profitable. Let’s look at the history of...
I read almost daily in the news about cyber attacks on U.S. banks, infrastructure, government agencies, and businesses. In fact, government agencies saw a more than 650% increase in cyber security incidents from 2006 to 2010, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO reports that a main reason for the increase is the failure of agencies to fully implement their IT security programs....
Every day corporate networks are faced with increasingly complex threats to IT security. But there’s an entirely new approach that can help you minimize risks. It’s called “Orbital Security”—and it just might save your company’s data. Orbital Security allows you to create an IT security strategy based on the relationships your company has with clients,...
The cyber-threat landscape is in a constant state of evolution. Threats and attacks are increasing in frequency and complexity. Nowhere is that more evident than in the onslaught of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks almost constantly assaulting organizations of all sizes. IT leaders looking to...
Have you ever tried to move an object by pushing a rope? How about herding cats? Tell me if this video reminds me of your workplace. Doesn’t make much sense, right?...
At Mobile World Congress, Samsung announced an end-to-end secure Android solution that provides security hardening from the hardware through to the application layer called KNOX. This announcement is another indication of the evolving world of security that is being driven by the adoption of mobility and...
For security professionals 2012 was a very exciting year. We saw some major changes in information security attack strategies, known as vectors, and an increase in their public visibility. Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) became more common and mobile and wireless security came into the forefront of our...
These days, we use mobile devices for just about everything, from online purchases while we’re standing in line at the coffee shop to managing our bank accounts and storing confidential data. “Human factor” is often cited as one of the weakest links in...
The debate rages on about the viability of the cloud for the healthcare industry, mainly weighing security risks against the benefits of lower costs and improved outcomes. Private, closed systems can be Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant and...
I was privileged to have been able to attend the 2013 RSA event. While catching up with old friends and meeting colleagues was exciting, seeing the new technologies being released is always the highpoint of RSA. I am always struck by vendors promoting “today’s solution to tomorrow’s problems”. Some of the newer solutions this year appear to be designed as “one simple fix” to the very complex problem of security....
Yahoo sure has been in the headlines lately. The interesting part of the story for me has been the spotlight on extracting worker productivity from the VPN logs. For a great synopsis and commentary, check out InfoWorld's blog by Ted Samson. Ted makes some great points about the dangers of using a single set of analytics to derive employee value. For example, not all work functions require constant VPN consumption. On the other end of the...
When it comes to consumers, the experience is everything. The most successful Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies are already leveraging interactive marketing and social media to drive awareness of their goods as well as their brands – and with good reason. To harness the effects of interactive marketing, social media, and the emerging technologies now available with the plethora of mobile apps and cloud computing, CPG businesses must...
Read this case study to learn how Armstrong Coal uses a converged MPLS IP network to boost its operations efficiencies and productivity while providing the safest possible working environment and meeting state, federal and industry regulations....
A frenemy is someone who is both a friend and an enemy, and we all know one of those. They do good work and contribute to the success of the company, but you wouldn’t take a vacation with them. Cloud services are kind of like that to IT departments. Cloud services possess the ability to speed development and deployment while saving thousands of dollars. What a great friend! But the downsides make it hard to spend much time...
For those of you who follow the mobility space closely, you are well aware of the evolution of mobile device management (MDM). No longer is it simply a discussion about supporting mobile devices, the conversation now includes:...
As the cloud has evolved over the last several years, it is interesting to compare its evolution to that of outsourcing during the previous decade. Many companies, seeking to control expenses, sought options for traditional IT and business operations functions, such as systems development and contact/call/ fulfillment centers....
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough” – Albert Einstein The PCI DSS is a set of 12 high-level requirements and about 250 (depending upon how you count them) sub-requirements that outline controls all companies which must comply with the standard are required to implement to protect cardholder data....
What comes to mind when you hear the term “Health Information Exchange (HIE)?” For me, it means an opportunity for better care coordination -- which ultimately results in better outcomes, improved clinical and administrative efficiency, and reduced costs. But I’ve been around healthcare long enough to recognize that...
Mobile Internet is EVERYWHERE. When we are not accessing it in public via cellular 4G LTE, we are using our mobile devices to surf on corporate Wi-Fi networks. But access is not always fair. Sometimes, we just want to quickly check our mails. Or launch a corporate app. And yet, we have to struggle with poor response times because someone is streaming multimedia. It is analogous to being unable to...
The pitch Charlie Brown returned to that pitching mound year after year, looking for the elusive summer victory. He asked his team to have faith, see its potential, and no matter what never give in to despair no matter how long the odds. While victory eluded the Peanuts gang every summer, the competition for Big Data is ripe for a winner....