Trend Micro Tackles Data Protection and Consumerization Needs with Integrated OfficeScan Release

October 26, 2011 · Filed Under Security Software, Software News · Comment 

Trend Micro announced enhancements to its OfficeScan, Mobile Security and Data Protection solutions, which includes the ability to integrate management of security, data protection, and mobile management.

This allows IT organizations to reduce the costs and complexity required to protect their users, data and computing assets.

While businesses have worked diligently to reduce incoming IT threats in recent years, they have struggled to keep up with emerging ‘multi-faceted’ security concerns related to data loss, virtualization, cloud migration, mobile device management and consumerization. A recent Trend Micro study shows that IT departments serving more than 200 users have added security point solutions at an alarming rate – in some cases they have a dozen types of software, each with a different directory, administration console and server.

“We have quickly found ourselves in a situation where IT organizations must consolidate their security solutions, or risk errors and solution gaps due to this added complexity,” said Ron Clarkson, Trend Micro’s senior director, endpoint business. “The good news is, Trend Micro has anticipated this situation and provides a reliable way out of it.” Read more

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National Cyber Security Alliance to Coordinate Data Privacy Day

August 25, 2011 · Filed Under Software News · Comment 

The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a non-profit public-private partnership focused on cybersecurity awareness and education for all digital citizens, announced that it will organize and lead efforts for Data Privacy Day on January 28, 2012.

This annual international awareness initiative promotes data privacy and protection across the United States, Canada, and a host of other countries across the globe.

Data Privacy Day is an international celebration that focuses on educating people about the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information and that promotes individual control over private data. With the explosion of digital communications, people depend increasingly on mobile devices, instant access to information, and intelligent services. As they benefit from using these technologies, consumers and citizens must be vigilant about protecting their personal information. Data Privacy Day generates dialogue among all digital community stakeholders, including businesses, government officials and agencies, educators, nonprofits, academics and individuals to examine how advanced technologies can positively affect daily lives without putting user information and personal data at risk. Read more

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Security Standoff in the Cloud?

April 28, 2011 · Filed Under Security Software, Software News · Comment 

CA Technologies and the Ponemon Institute, an independent research firm specializing in privacy, data protection and information security policy, released a study that shows cloud providers and cloud consumers are not aligned on cloud security. Their conflicting views on focus, priority and responsibility suggest a pending security standoff between cloud providers and cloud users.

The study, “Security of Cloud Computing Providers,” indicates that cloud providers are more focused on delivering the benefits of cost and speed of deployment, the top two reasons cited for migrating to cloud computing. The majority of cloud providers (79 percent) allocate just 10 percent or less of IT resources to security or control-related activities. This result is consistent with the finding that less than half of the respondents agree or strongly agree that security is a priority.

“The focus on reduced cost and faster deployment may be sufficient for cloud providers now, but as organizations reach the point where increasingly sensitive data and applications are all that remains to migrate to the cloud, they will quickly reach an impasse,” said Mike Denning, general manager, Security, CA Technologies. “If the risk of breach outweighs potential cost savings and agility, we may reach a point of ‘cloud stall’—where cloud adoption slows or stops—until organizations believe cloud security is as good as or better than enterprise security.”

Additional key findings include: Read more

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Trend Micro Expands Data Protection Portfolio to Secure Data From Endpoints to the Cloud

February 16, 2011 · Filed Under Security Software, Software News · Comment 

New Data Protection products and services enable customers to benefit from comprehensive, cost-effective and easy-to-use set of DLP, encryption, and device control solutions

With the release of several new products and services, Trend Micro is furthering its leadership and commitment in data privacy and security by expanding its Data Protection portfolio to help small, medium and large organizations protect business information against damage, loss, and unauthorized access. Trend Micro’s goal is to keep data safe, wherever it resides, from endpoint to cloud, from intentional or unintentional harm, and to enable this protection cost-effectively and with lower complexity.

Data Protection is a growing concern for businesses. State and national governments are enacting more stringent data privacy regulations and such regulations are driving the need to protect sensitive information and protect privacy. The increased frequency and cost of data breaches are also accelerating the adoption of Data Protection solutions as organizations strive to mitigate risks and protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.  Many businesses struggle with the complexity, cost and manageability of data protection solutions.  Trend Micro understands these challenges and has developed easier data protection solutions to address and solve these problems.

“Data protection is paramount in any organization’s security strategy. The new products and services provide our customers with proven solutions to encrypt, control, and protect confidential data – endpoint to cloud,” said Steve Quane, chief product officer, Trend Micro. “These solutions further our vision of protecting digital information wherever it resides, with less cost and complexity.” Read more

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Enterprises are under-investing in the protection of corporate secrets

April 6, 2010 · Filed Under Security Software, Software News · Comment 

Focus on Protecting Compliance-related Data Needs to Expand to More Valuable Intellectual Property

RSA, The Security Division of EMC and Microsoft (MSFT) announced the results of a commissioned global survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of RSA and Microsoft, entitled “The Value of Corporate Secrets: How Compliance and Collaboration Affect Enterprise Perceptions of Risk.” The survey of 305 IT security decision-makers worldwide revealed that enterprises are investing heavily in compliance and protection against accidental leaks of custodial data (such as customer information), but under-investing in protection against theft of far more valuable corporate secrets.

Security Spending Mis-aligned with Information Value

“Nearly 90% of enterprises we surveyed agreed that compliance with PCI-DSS, data privacy laws, data breach regulations, and existing data security policies is the primary driver of their data security programs. Significant percentages of enterprise budgets (39%) are devoted to compliance-related data security programs,” according to Forrester Consulting’s study. “But secrets comprise 62% of the overall information portfolio’s total value while compliance-related custodial data comprises just 38%, a much smaller proportion. This strongly suggests that investments are overweighed toward compliance.”

“Companies are spending money to protect customer, medical and payment card information, as they should, but more emphasis needs to be placed on protecting the intellectual property and data that has intrinsic value to an organization,” said Sam Curry, CTO, Marketing, RSA, The Security Division of EMC. “If IP is lost, it can cause long term competitive harm to an organization. The recent and highly-sophisticated attacks targeting intellectual property of large multinational companies are examples of this type of loss.”

Information Theft is More Costly than Accidental Loss

The survey found that while organizations focus on data security incidents related to accidental loss, information theft by employees or trusted outsiders is more costly. For example, based on responses received in the survey, employee theft of sensitive information is 10 times costlier than accidental loss on a per-incident basis: hundreds of thousands of dollars versus tens of thousands.

“Insider risk is a real and growing threat and the modern enterprise environment of collaboration with a variety of outside parties creates more opportunities for leakage and theft,” said John Chirapurath, senior director of the Identity and Security Business Group at Microsoft. “This data illustrates that the more a company has to lose in terms of information value, the more criminal activity it will face.”

A Need for Real Assessment and Measurement of Information Security

Despite a wide range in security spending, views on the value of information and the number of security incidents reported among the respondents, nearly every company surveyed rated its security controls to be equally effective.

“Most enterprises do not actually know whether their data security programs work or not, other than by raw incident counting,” according to Forrester Consulting. “‘Compliance’ in all its forms has helped CISOs buy more gear. But it has distracted IT security from its traditional focus: keeping company secrets secure.”

Together, Forrester, Microsoft and RSA are providing a set of recommendations within the study to help enterprises ensure that their information security strategies are appropriately balanced, including:

– Identify the most valuable information assets in the company’s portfolio
– Create a “risk register” of data security risks that document specific threat scenarios
– Assess and reprioritize the IT security program’s balance between compliance and protecting secrets
– Increase vigilance of external and third-party business relationships
– Measure data security program effectiveness

The Forrester Consulting Study sponsored by RSA and Microsoft is available at www.rsa.com/CorporateSecrets and www.microsoft.com/DLP.

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