The highly valuable nature of data that is transmitted across the Web has made network security one of the biggest concerns for organizations today. The recent string of high-profile attacks on companies like Sony, Lockheed Martin (News - Alert) and the FBI has only heightened this concern.
As one might expect, the topic of network security was a significant point of interest at Cloud Expo 2011, which just wrapped up in Manhattan earlier this month.
TMC (News - Alert) CEO Rich Tehrani was on the floor talking with a number of experts in the field to get a better idea of what tools are being created to calm the fears of IT personnel around the country.
Steve Harper, VP of Business Development at network security firm Still Secure, sat down with Tehrani to discuss the development of the hacking craze that has been dominating the headlines for the last few months.
“If you go back 10 to 15 years ago, much of the hacking that was going on was malicious,” said Harper. “But now, it is a for-profit enterprise. There are crime syndicates that make their living breaking into computers, stealing and selling data, or holding them for ransom. It is now a criminal enterprise that is well-funded.”
Harper said that his company has a desk drawer full of emailed ransom notes that demanded outrageous sums of cash for networks to be set free.
He told Tehrani that 92 percent of corporate data is currently available through some type of Web browser, yet the typical firewall that is being used today is not looking at that type of traffic. Therefore, the Web application firewall has become a hugely important line of defense, he added.
The companies that are in the most jeopardy, according to Harper, are small and medium-sized businesses that don't fully understand their vulnerabilities. He cited an FBI study that said 75 percent of SMBs are compromised in some way, they just don't know it.
Harper believes the greatest concern for IT security teams is hackers posing as legitimate users. “Once a hacker is in as a legitimate user, they have all these tools at their disposal to steal whatever they think is valuable,” he noted.
The two wrapped up their talk by touching on a few projects that Still Secure is working on, including a cloud security platform and line of multi-tenant devices.
Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
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