by Rebeca | Feb 8, 2014 | News
The relentless consumerization of enterprise IT policies and practices will extend to mobile device security over the next few years as more and more companies turn to biometric authentication technologies to lock down corporate data and devices.
A new Gartner report predicts that at least 30 percent of organizations will use technology similar to the Touch ID feature on the latest iteration of the iPhone to efficiently and effectively secure and manage mobile devices connected to their networks without irritating users in the process.
«Mobile users staunchly resist authentication methods that were tolerable on PCs and are still needed to bolster secure access on mobile devices,» Ant Allan, a Gartner research vice president, said in the report. «Security leaders must manage users’ expectations and take into account the user experience without comprising security.»
Complete article by ZDNET
by Rebeca | Feb 8, 2014 | News
As the adoption of cloud-based applications increase and more IT departments embrace BYOD, employees, contractors, partners and customers are all accessing corporate applications and data from multiple devices across all global regions. The resulting benefits — productivity gains, customer satisfaction, cost savings and greater efficiency — are met by an increased security risk of exposing sensitive personal and corporate information.
As a result of the proliferation of BYOD, a recent survey of enterprises managing a total of 4.5 million global identities uncovered that 42 percent of IT decision-makers at enterprise-sized businesses are significantly concerned about the security of applications — and the data stored within them — like SharePoint and Salesforce when they are accessed via mobile devices.
Enterprises are left to figure out how to allow anywhere, anytime access to work, while still remaining in control of sensitive company information. Consequently, many are turning to identity and access management (IAM) solutions to help manage user access.
Complete article by Wired
by Rebeca | Jan 18, 2014 | News
Organisations spend a lot of time and effort protecting their networks from external attacks. However, it is insider threats that are viewed as one of the biggest risks to corporate data according to IT decision makers surveyed in the Cyber-Ark 2012 Trust, Security & Passwords report.
To efficiently mitigate insider threats and reduce the attack surface of an Information System, a network must be set on a ‘need-to-know’ and ‘need-to-use’ basis.
In real terms, this means that IT departments must ensure that each user in their organisation can only log in according to the pre-authorisation that has been granted. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case.
Complete article by techradar
by Rebeca | Jan 11, 2014 | News
When individual developers think of open source, they think «free.» And with good cause: Who in their right mind wouldn’t be interested in technology that they can get at no cost and use with few licensing restrictions?
When companies think of open source, these days they think «business agility,» a quality they increasingly value above all others in the fast-changing marketplace.
The ability to create new applications quickly, reliably and economically is drawing businesses big and small to open source and emboldening them to use it for ever-larger projects, IT practitioners say.
Which is likely why open source’s popularity is booming (with a few holdouts). According to the Forrester Research report «Development Landscape: 2013,» 76% of developers have used open-source technology «at some level,» says Jeffrey Hammond, a Forrester analyst specializing in application development and delivery.
Open source keeps costs down
Cost savings may be only part of open source’s allure, but it’s still a big part, no matter what size the organization. «How can Netflix charge as little as $8 per month for its service?» Hammond asks. «Because everything is built on open-source software. They focused on content, not building an operating system or a testing framework.»
Complete article by ComputerWorld
by Rebeca | Dec 10, 2013 | News
As 2013 draws to a close, it has become clear that every major industry maintains sensitive data, and has been targeted by hackers. This year ushered in a new batch of highly publicized data breaches that affected millions of consumers, many of whom became the victim of identity fraud. From an enterprise standpoint, these breaches not only eroded consumer trust, but they also open businesses to fines, penalties, and class-action lawsuits for not properly securing private data.
Based on the increasing volume of data businesses now manage, and the growing capabilities of cyber criminals, I expect the following scenarios to become more commonplace in 2014:
ID thefts to target: Affordable Care Act
Medical identity fraud is a lucrative source of income for perpetrators who bill for fraudulent medical services or obtain insurance, government benefits or prescription drugs. Medical fraud endangers patients’ health and costs consumers millions of dollars each year. While hospitals and providers will remain targets of criminal rings seeking personal health information, newly created health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act create new security risks for millions of Americans.
Complete article by ScMagazine
