THUMBS DOWN: North Korea. To be fair, there's not much proof at this point that the rogue nation is behind the DDos Attacks against U.S. and South Korean sites -- only speculation sparked by the timing and targets. But cyberwarfare aside, one must wonder why we keep letting this regime get away with evil.
See also: North Korea: Culprit in DDoS Attacks?
[ Learn how to secure your systems with Roger Grimes' Security Adviser blog and Security Central newsletter, both from InfoWorld. ]
THUMBS DOWN: Spammers. Unfortunately for all us social media users, the spamming community has quickly figured out how to exploit Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter to push their garbage.
See also: New Spam Trick: Shortened URLs
THUMBS BOTH WAYS: President Obama. Sure, that cybersecurity coordinator should be reporting directly to him and not the national security advisor. But the simple fact that Obama knows what a botnet is can only be seen as a step in the right direction. Now he needs to stop dragging his feet and appoint someone already.
See also: Obama Must Move on Cybersecurity Coordinator
THUMBS UP: Heartland Payment Systems CEO Robert Carr. He's getting high marks from some analysts for his response to a massive data breach discovered at the credit-and debit-card payment processor earlier this year. Instead of stonewalling and making excuses, Carr has moved decisively to close the security holes that contributed to the breach and has reached out to customers and industry groups for feedback on the company's response. CEOs usually hide when something like this happens, which has made Carr's outreach all the more refreshing.
See also: Heartland CEO Commended for Data Breach Response
THUMBS BOTH WAYS: DLP vendors. There's no doubt that security vendors are twisting the true definition of data loss prevention to market their products. But in their defense, few in the industry truly understand how to define it anyway.
See also: Solving the DLP Puzzle: 5 Technologies That Will Help
THUMBS DOWN: Twitter. True, the author can't get by without his Twitter feed nearby. But let's face it: The microblog is being overrun with digital miscreants who are finding plenty of ways to attack people in 140 characters or less. Where's that Fail Whale when you need it?
See also: Twitter Hack Spreads Porn Trojan
Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.
The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.
Download now »
Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.
Download now »
A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.
Download now »
This white paper provides guidance on how to develop a strategic approach to managing and monitoring logs, a key function required for compliance with many regulatory mandates and a critical defense against security threats.
Download now! »
Learn about the processes and technologies that support security information management (SIM) operations, as well as the business case for SIM. The series examines different options for implementing SIM and gives you evaluation criteria for selecting the best option for your organization.
Download now! »
Learn the strategies, actions, and capabilities that Best-in-Class organizations employ and technologies they choose to obtain superior performance against various security performance metrics. This report provides guidelines for identifying which security solutions to consume as a MSS and defines best practices for choosing and managing MSSPs.
Download now! »
Recommend This
