resource center
  See your link here
|
Subscribe to Computerworld Computerworld -
According to Mike Hager, vice president of network security and disaster recovery at Oppenheimer Funds Inc. in New York, corporations are facing a key problem: They have spent about 80% of their security dollars to protect against outside threats when in fact 80% of all attacks come from the inside.
The misdirection of resources has led to misperceptions about cyberthreats among senior executives, said Hager. "If we don't educate senior management about what the real threats are, we don't get support from them," he said. "That's the No. 1 threat."
Hager said he found out firsthand how easy it is for insider access to be abused. During a recent audit of his own enterprise, he managed to crack 800 user passwords in three minutes using a standard tool. Within 36 hours, he was able to crack all 27,000 passwords being used throughout the organization.
The ability to crack weak user passwords is particularly important because the answer to the question "Will a hacker be able to get into the network?" will always be yes, said Hager. He recommended that companies focus on enterprise security using an approach that responds to the following questions: Can attackers get in? Where can they go once they get in? And what damage can the attackers do?
In the short term, companies should work to get senior managers to realize the value of corporate data, said Hager, who was on the 32nd floor of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center when the first tower collapsed after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. "After having everything in our corporate headquarters totally lost, you [realize] real quick how valuable it is," he said.
Read accompanying story:
Centralized Data Backup and Your WAN
Is your organization prepared to tackle the massive challenge of protecting your data in a cost effective and timely manner? With a growing...
Why Compliance Pays
This OnDemand webcast explores the relationship that firms with best compliance records have higher revenue, greater customer retention, lower financial losses from data...
An All-in-One Approach to Web Security
Granting web access to employees poses challenges to IT administrators and introduces unique security risks. Even as companies have perfected their security techniques...
Best Practices for Managing Business Risks from the Use of IT
(Source: Symantec) Based on exhaustive benchmarks conducted by the IT Policy Compliance, this session highlights the relationship between business risks and use of...
The Hidden Dangers of Spam
Beyond the well-understood productivity drain that spam inflicts on businesses, threats posed by illicit email circulating through a network are causing many security...
Managing And Protecting Your Ever Increasing Mobile Assets
(Source: Absolute Software) Your users are becoming more mobile each day. This is great for productivity - yet challenging for IT control. Natalie...
Open Source Security Myths Dispelled
(Source: Astaro) Open Source Software is computer software whose source code is available to the general public. This openly viewable nature...
Sun OpenSSO Enterprise Webinar
(Source: Sun) This webinar replay discusses Sun OpenSSO Enterprise innovation--the single, open-source solution that helps your business solve the challenges around internal access...
Best Practices for Backing Up VMware® with Veritas NetBackup™
VMware® is used by enterprises large and small to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their IT operations. With this in mind, Symantec...
Agile Enterprise Content Management (ECM) for Rapid ROI
(Source: IBM) Content rich business processes are a core feature of daily operations at just about any organization today. Very often these essential...
Sign up to receive updates on the latest Security resources
CIO
Computerworld
CSO
DEMO
GamePro
Games.net
IDC
IDG
IDG Connect
IDG Knowledge Hub
IDG TechNetwork
IDG Ventures
IDG.net
InfoWorld
ITwhitepapers
ITworld
JavaWorld
LinuxWorld
Macworld
Network World
PC World
The Industry Standard
Copyright © 1994 - 2009 Computerworld Inc. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium
without express written permission ofComputerworld Inc. is prohibited. Computerworld and Computerworld.com and the respective logos are trademarks of International Data Group Inc. |
