Cloud and Remote Endpoint Data Loss Prevention - Protect your Business

FinancialPost.com reported on March 24, 2011 that the security at the world’s largest travel website, TripAdvisor LLC* was breached by an “unauthorized third party” the previous weekend. The company’s email addresses belonging to TripAdvisor’s 20 million members were taken.

The travel website states the source of the vulnerability has been discovered and shut down. Fortunately, TripAdvisor does not collect credit card or financial information from its members; however, members may receive some unsolicited emails (spam) as a result of this incident.

This is not the first time that large online companies have had information taken from their systems. Last December, a group of hackers, known as “Gnosis,” broke into the Gawker Media user database and stole contact information; and popular online dating websites, PlentyOfFish and eHarmony, have also been victims of data theft in the last two months.

Some hackers have even higher ambitions than just collecting contact data. In early February, the operator of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, the largest electronic trading platform in the United States, found “suspicious files” on its U.S. servers which led to the discovery of repeated attempts over the past year to access confidential information.

SafeCentral can protect your business and can secure an entire organization from malware including screen scrapers, key loggers and DNS redirects. SafeCentral protects a company’s VDI, SSL VPN and Cloud Service from malware that may be infecting local PCs used to access these secure areas.

To learn more, sign up for SafeCentral’s Enterprise Webinar on Cloud and Remote Endpoint Data Loss Prevention, on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Hosted by SafeCentral’s CTO Ray Dickenson. The webinar will discuss the following

• New areas of risk for your customers
• How cybercriminals are getting access to retail and wholesale banking customers' accounts
• How you can proactively stop malicious attacks

SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install application that actually assumes that your machine is already infected with malware and ensures that the information on your computer stays secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Learn more about how it actually works and how it keeps your information safe at www.SafeCentral.com.

*TripAdvisor is a worldwide forum where anyone can contribute hotel reviews. The 18 websites that operate in 27 countries under the TripAdvisor Media Group — which is owned by Expedia Inc.

Stopping Online Account Fraud

Online banking platforms have been implemented as a more efficient channel for banking transactions. However, these web-based applications are exposed over the Internet making their users an appealing target for mal-intended individuals.

Security for online banking primarily uses encryption—a form of invisible coding and firewalls to protect information from third parties. Typically, a password and personal identification number are required to login to an online bank account. Most banks offer additional protections, such as automatically logging off of their site after several minutes of inactivity or when you leave the site without logging out of your online bank account.

Reputable banks have security measures in place to secure both the personal and financial data stored in online accounts. However, data security is a serious concern for both banks and consumers, especially following a reported rise in identity theft over the past few years. Banks are constantly challenged to implement anti-fraud measures to protect financial accounts from a host of potential security breaches.

As malware and cybercrime attacks, increasingly targeting small to mid-size businesses, online account fraud is becoming a major problem for commercial banks. There have been discussions and even pending lawsuits to determine whether the responsibility for providing adequate security and loss recovery lies with the banks or the enterprises.

SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ for Commercial Banking authenticates participants and combines a locked-down desktop with a certified, encrypted connection to make online banking as safe as possible: 

• Actively protects desktop PC from malicious agents (such as keyloggers and screen scraping trojans) by intercepting the low-level Windows commands that allow those agents to function
• Rescues the user from the perils of the local network (Wi-Fi, man-in-the-middle attacks) by establishing an encrypted, certificate guaranteed link with a secure DNS server
• Routes the user to the bank’s site directly through secure DNS
• Provides visual cues with a locked down desktop, simplified browser, and cooperation with existing authentication methods (Site Key, certificates, etc.) to thwart phishing and other attacks
• Prevents application tampering by restricting application execution privileges
• Operates independently of signatures or databases, ensuring up-to-date protection at all times
• Integrates seamlessly with traditional desktop security measures (e.g., anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc.) and existing authentication schemes with little or no effort
• Can protect any type of financial online transaction, including banking, online trading, tax filing and the like

To learn more, sign up for SafeCentral’s Commercial Banking Webinar on Stopping Online Account Fraud, on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. Hosted by SafeCentral’s CTO Ray Dickenson. The webinar will discuss the following:

• New areas of risk for your customers
• How cybercriminals are getting access to retail and wholesale banking customers' accounts
• How you can proactively stop malicious attacks

SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install application that actually assumes that your machine is already infected with malware and ensures that the information on your computer stays secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Learn more about how it actually works and how it keeps your information safe at www.SafeCentral.com.

How Secure Is Your Business?

With the onslaught of new malware that’s being created and distributed every day, new and inventive phishing schemes, and other ways cyber criminals have to get in to your endpoint data and accounts, how secure do you think your business is?

Small and Mid-size businesses that may not have a dedicated IT department can have a hard time keeping up with the latest happenings in online security, especially with the new trends of cloud computing and virtual environments.

We wanted to do our share to help and decided to write up a quick checklist to help you evaluate the security status of your business. The checklist should help you keep your documents and your personal account information secure.

Checklist:

1. Do you have policies in place for the following:

1. restricted critical data access to only the people who need it?
2. proper and safe disposal of any documents with critical or personal identifying information?
3. what types of network activities are allowed and which ones are prohibited?
4. secure email and other electronic communication?
5. network access by outside devices such as laptops or phones?
6. remote access for employees accessing the network from remote locations?

2. Have you educated your employees of the importance of password security and how to stay secure when conducting transactions online?

3. Do you have the following technologies in place:

1. Firewalls?
2. Secure wireless network?
3. Up to date anti-virus and malware protection?
4. Intrusion prevention?
5. Identity Management?
6. SafeCentral’s WebProtection™?

4. Do you have a contingency plan in the case of a data breach for who is responsible for handling it and how to contact your customers or anyone else affected by the breach?

5. Finally, we recommend that if you don’t have the skill set in place to properly secure your business information, hire a security specialist. It is a lot cheaper to secure your business properly than the cost of cleaning up a data breach when you consider both monetary repercussions and your reputation.

Another great way to check the status of your antivirus software, firewall protection, and the web security status of your computers is to download the WebAdvisor™. WebAdvisor™ is a free diagnostic tool that runs a complement to any existing security software and does not negatively impact the performance of your computer.

SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install application that actually assumes that your machine is already infected with malware and ensures that the information on your computer stays secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Learn more about how it actually works and how it keeps your information safe at www.SafeCentral.com.

What Is Keylogging?

We were excited to see the term “keylogging” mentioned in the mainstream a couple of weeks ago when it was actually featured in an episode of “The Good Wife” on CBS, starring Juliana Margulies. In the TV show, keylogging software was found on her computer as someone was trying to uncover secrets and spying on the TV shows ‘Alicia’.

It’s great that malware like keylogging is mentioned on TV making the public more aware of its existence, still there are many who will do not realize that this threat is very real and very common. What do you really know about keylogging?

Keylogging is actually completely legal software that many businesses use to track their employees computer activities and that parents use on their kids’ computers. The problem is that cybercriminals use keylogging as a tool to break into people’s computers and get their personal information to then commit identity theft or online account fraud.

The term keylogger is neutral and describes how the software functions, namely monitor and log all keystrokes. It doesn’t have to be software; it can also be a device. Many keyloggers hide themselves in the system which makes them fully-fledged Trojans. Keyloggers are now the most-used method in the theft of confidential information.

Cybercriminals will plant keylogging viruses on fake websites or package them in fake downloads and once you access it, it will infect the user’s computer. Once infected, the keylogging virus will start tracking the user’s computer activities and discover confidential information such as passwords, user names, personal information, and more. This information will then be used to access the victim’s bank account to steal funds or to steal the victim’s identity.

A great way to prevent keylogging viruses and something ‘Alicia’ in The Good Wife could have used on her computer is SafeCentral’s WebProtection™.

SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install application that actually assumes that your machine is already infected with malware and ensures that the information on your computer stays secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Learn more about how it actually works and how it keeps your information safe at www.SafeCentral.com.

CYBERCRIME 101

There have been discussions lately that the general consumer does not know enough about cybercrime, malware, and general online security. This does not only include individual users but also small business owners or any business that do not have a dedicated IT department.

This quick Cybercrime 101 class will help you identify some of the terms and definitions and show you some basic steps you can take to keep you or your business safe.

Cybercrime – a crime committed using a computer and the Internet to steal a person’s identity, sell contraband, stalk victims or disrupt operations with malevolent programs. This is a term that has become increasingly important these last few years as cyber criminals have stolen billions of dollars from businesses and individuals alike. Lately, the criminals seem to have specifically targeted small to midsize businesses who may not have a dedicated security staff and do not have adequate security on their network.

Malware - Short for malicious software and is any program or file that is harmful to a computer user. So, malware includes computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and more. Basically, malware is what the cybercriminals create to be able to get into your computer, steal your information, and gain access to your bank accounts or customer data.

Phishing – an email attempting to get information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity such as a bank, auction sites, social websites and others.

There are many tools available that will give you some sense of security when you go online, such as anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. You should always make sure you have these installed and upgraded to the latest version. But to make sure your online transactions are secure and that your personal information is not hacked into by cybercriminals or your computer is not infected by malware, you should look at SafeCentral’s WebProtection™.

SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install application that actually assumes that your machine is already infected with malware and ensures that the information on your computer stays secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Learn more about how it actually works and how it keeps your information safe at http://www.safecentral.com/home-user.html. Feel free to also look through some of our other blog posts and industry articles to learn more about cybercrime and malware.

Check back next month for another 101 educational blog post.

Inspire Consumer Confidence by Addressing Their Security Concerns

In a study from 2010, RSA surveyed over 4500 adults from 22 countries about their feelings, thoughts, and knowledge of today’s security threats. We want to highlight some of the results from this survey to show you how important security is to consumers and clients and to show how you can help them feel confident about your company.

Online fraud and cybercrime are featured more frequently in the media and the security and privacy risks of social networking has also been discussed at great lengths, this has in turn caused consumers to become more aware and more knowledgeable about online security risks. Because they are more aware, they are also more concerned and expect more from the websites of organizations they interact with on a regular basis. They expect that the companies they have an online relationship with should keep them secure.

One of the most important findings in the survey was the lack of confidence in banks. With more and more elements of one’s daily life being conducted on the Internet, the survey asked consumers how concerned consumers were with having their personal information accessed or stolen at any of these four types of sites: Banking, Healthcare, Government, and Social Networking. Surprisingly, an overwhelming 86% was concerned about banking with social networking a close second at 81%. Government (68%) and Healthcare (61%) trailed behind. This is surprising since financial institutions have showed concerns and taken steps to improve online security for their customers while other sites only require a regular user name and password to access an online account.

In addition, 80% of survey respondents felt that banks need to implement a stronger form of security than a user name and password and a full 92% felt that banks should monitor their accounts for suspicious activity. It is obvious that consumers hold banks to a higher standard than any other sites they interact with online and that high security also impacts an organization’s consumer confidence. Consumer confidence can be directly attributed to increased transactions.

When asked how increased security would impact their willingness to transact online, 92% said they would be more confident. When asked how stronger security features in addition to username and password would impact their willingness to interact, purchase items, and submit personal information to the sites they regularly visit, 72% said they would be more likely to submit personal information online.

SafeCentral’s WebProtection
To help you increase your consumer confidence and thereby your revenue, SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install, light-weight data loss prevention (DLP) application that operates under the assumption that the user’s machine is already infected with malware ensuring that endpoint data is secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands (from write to disk, to save in RAM and beyond) and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Unlike other tools, WebProtection™ goes down deep into the DNA of the Windows operating system and is able to control all processes during a secured transaction.

If you require your commercial clients to use WebProtection™, you are helping them increase their revenue, keep their endpoint data secure, and increase your own revenue while keeping your customers’ data secure as well. Learn more at: http://www.safecentral.com/banking-user.html.

To read the survey in its entirety, you can access it at: http://www.rsa.com/products/consumer/whitepapers/10665_CSV_WP_1209_Global.pdf.

Secure Your Endpoint Data

IT security teams are having a challenging time these days as it is getting more and more difficult to keep on top of new malware threats and keep your company’s endpoint data secure. Anti-virus is having problems keeping up with today’s strains of malware which are growing immensely and keep coming up with new and improved versions. Examples you have seen in the headlines this year alone would be the Stuxnet worm, multiple botnets, Operation Auroa and many, many more. There are hundreds of malicious anti-malware programs and fake security applications designed to keep your workstations hostage.

Besides the legitimate Anti-virus programs, there are some things you can still do to keep your data protected. Below are a few things that will definitely get you well on your way.

Application Control
Application control or application whitelisting is a simple concept. You only allow approved applications to run on a system and block everything else. Some of the unique advantages of that is eliminating the need to continually scan for malware and the update process as well as built-in protection from zero-day attacks. The latest systems are highly customizable allowing the IT staff to specify end user privileges to specific applications.

Full-disk encryption
Basically, full-disk encryption (FDE) encrypt all of the data-including the operating system and system files-on a hard drive to block unauthorized endpoint access. Although gives IT professionals a convenient way to control all of the workstations on a network, not all FDE systems encrypt data when it is being shared between devices, stored on external drives, or being transferred via e-mail.

Data loss protection
Data loss protection (DLP) solutions secure endpoint data, whether in use on an individual PC, being transmitted externally over a network, or housed in storage. The techniques to do so vary from scanning content to monitor communications to contextual security analysis to encryption of stored data. When it comes down to it what it does is allow administrators to identify risks and lock down sensitive data before it can leak outside the organization.


SafeCentral’s WebProtection
SafeCentral’s WebProtection™ is a one-time install, light-weight data loss prevention (DLP) application that operates under the assumption that the user’s machine is already infected with malware ensuring that endpoint data is secure. WebProtection™ interprets and intercepts over 5,000 discrete Windows commands (from write to disk, to save in RAM and beyond) and effectively blocks all potentially dangerous activities except those processes needed for the transaction. Unlike other tools, WebProtection™ goes down deep into the DNA of the Windows operating system and is able to control all processes during a secured transaction.

With these tools available to you your company can feel better about the security of its endpoint data and free up valuable IT staff time for other tasks.