This article originally appeared in the March issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine.
You’ve probably heard the now-popular refrain about how while many folks are very comfortable sharing many details of personal their lives online, these same people have a high level of expectation relative to the security of their personal and professional information. What they may not know is that Web 2.0 and the rise of the bring-your-own-device trend make it easier than ever for criminals to penetrate the sanctity of our personal and professional content and networks.
While criminals used to send online denizens executable links in an effort to create high-tech havoc, Web 2.0 makes it easier for them to do “drive-by downloads,” says Scott Emo, head of software blade product marketing at Check Point, whose Application Control Software Blade allows companies to identify, allow, block or limit usage of thousands of applications by a user or a group. A drive-by download involves spreading infection by simply waiting for people go to a link, such as a Facebook (News - Alert) post, he says.
This is not only a problem for individuals. It also creates new challenges for organizations given a growing number of workers are tapping into Wi-Fi networks at their places of businesses.
And a new study from Check Point and Dimensional Research shows just how widespread that challenge may be.
“It kind of nails down what we’ve been seeing all along,” Emo says of the study, a global survey of 768 IT professionals in Canada, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
