The Insider Threat

Tony Bradley — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:04:01 +0000

I know that it is sort of a “sky is falling”, FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) sort of statement, but the threat from inside your network is significant. While you focus on keeping unauthorized users out, locking down your network perimeter, detecting and blocking incoming malware, etc., your authorized users may be busy at work pushing the boundaries of their access and poking your internal security measures for holes. Then there are those users who are authorized access and unwittingly expose sensitive data, such as placing it unprotected on a USB thumb drive which they subsequently misplace while stopping for a cup of coffee. There are a number of ways- both intentional, and accidental- that your users may pose a bigger threat to your network security than all of the bad, nasty external forces seeking to compromise your systems. Check out How dangerous user behavior puts networks at risk to read the whole article and hopefully pick up some tips you can use to protect your network from the inside as well.

Next-Generation IPS From Cisco

Tony Bradley — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:41:17 +0000

For organizations that have high-volume networks, such as networks that are used to stream audio or video, or networks that are used to process large quantities of transactions, monitoring can be a problem. The functionality of the network, and the security of the network, are in conflict. From a functionality standpoint, you want the fastest possible throughput, but from a security perspective, you want to monitor the traffic for suspicious or malicious behavior. The monitoring process is a bottleneck for many networks. Cisco hopes to relieve some of that bottleneck with their new IPS 4270 Intrusion Prevention appliance. With speeds up to 4Gbps, the IPS 4270 can monitor and protect your network while still allowing for exceptionally fast network speeds. Check out Cisco Unveils Next-Gen Intrusion Prevention System for more about Cisco’s new appliance.

Unified Communications: Click to talk » Intrusion prevention

The Insider Threat

Next-Generation IPS From Cisco