Security Feature

IBM (News - Alert) and Check Point recently announced the formation of a relationship to fight cybercrime. The two companies will collaborate on four key areas, which focus on prevention as the best method for dealing with cyberattacks. The announcement comes at a time when the financial impact of cybercrime exceeds many legitimate technology industries.

San Carlos, California-based Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. provides threat intelligence, DDoS protection, zero-day protection, Web security, and firewalls for SMB and enterprise environments.

The collaborative efforts between the two companies will be in the following areas:

IBM’s X-Force and Check Point’s security research teams will share intelligence in a common platform known as IBM X-Force Exchange (XFE).

Check Point will create a new application for its SmartConsole dashboard that supplies real-time security information that can be accessed from IBM’s QRadar console.

An enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution developed by IBM will be integrated with a mobile threat prevention platform developed by Check Point. This will allow admins to deny insecure mobile devices access to their network.

IBM will provide access to more Check Point solutions through its Managed Security Services.

Symantec (News - Alert) reveals several disturbing findings in its latest Norton Cybersecurity Insights Report. A total of 594 million people globally were victims of online crime last year, while 348 million identities were exposed due to hacking efforts of identity thieves.

What’s even more disturbing is that many security problems are preventable. Less than half of consumers use a secure password; one third do not password-protect their desktop computer or smartphone. The report also found that passwords were shared extensively in email, social media, entertainment, and financial accounts.

This isn’t the first time that IBM has collaborated in matters of cybersecurity. Recently the company opened the QRadar security analytics platform to allow developers to create custom security apps. This came months after the company opened a 700 terabyte database containing security threat data.

IBM’s efforts to collaborate on cybersecurity are similar to Mercedes Benz’ philosophy on sharing patented safety technology with the rest of the auto industry. The respected carmaker saw greater importance in allowing all carmakers to produce safer cars than profiting off the technology itself.

As a few tidbits of data from Symantec demonstrate, cybercrime is a widespread problem, and may well be so large that one company alone cannot solve the problem. Although IBM and its partners in cybersecurity cannot protect people who use insecure passwords or share their bank account passwords from their own carelessness, their approach of working together is worthy of praise.

The closing line of a frequently aired commercial from the German car maker that aired in the early 1990s sums it up best: “Some things in life are too important not to share.”