Bandwidth boost brings online threat

By Staff Writer for Symantec
Johannesburg, 23 Jul 2009

As SA gears up for faster and cheaper Internet, multi-layered security solutions will become a necessity for all businesses, says Symantec.

"History has shown that malicious activity on the Internet increases dramatically when more bandwidth is provided and access is easier and cheaper," says Grant Brown, endpoint security specialist at Symantec.

"This phenomenon is common as there is a natural lag between offering new services and securing the infrastructure. Securing the device accessing the network, therefore, becomes the responsibility of the user or of the organisation issuing the device."

A computer network no longer consists of static, deskbound endpoints, Brown explains. "Mobile devices and personal-use devices are gaining in popularity as users choose their own mode of access to company networks. Fixed and wireless access, too, complicates the already-complex task of managing a host of endpoint devices connecting to the network," he says.

To address this challenge, Grant urges companies to integrate an endpoint security solution, network access control, and compliance, into a single solution that's easy to manage.

According to Brown, an endpoint can be defined as an information-accessing device attached to an organisational network. "To ensure the enterprise remains secure, these individual 'points' need to be protected when connecting and disconnecting to the network, thus securing the device and the network from malicious code and activity," he says.

Brown cites a Frost & Sullivan report published in February this year, which indicates the wave of new threats and growing sophistication of cyber crime techniques are significant factors in the growth of the market for endpoint security worldwide.

"The growing sophistication of cyber crime can be illustrated by the recent case of the much-publicised Downadup series of worms," explains Brown. The malicious worm used various methods to propagate and spread, including through USB devices and other mobile media, according to Symantec. Downadup 2 and 3 also had the ability to disable analytical tools and steal passwords.

Network access control should play an integral part of securing the corporate network against mobile devices, says Brown. "In this way, organisations can implement policies that verify the legitimacy of both users and devices, and can control access to information and applications over the network."

Symantec's latest Internet Security Threat Report, issued in April, urges the enterprise to “consider implementing network compliance solutions that will help keep infected mobile users out of the network (and disinfect them before rejoining the network)”.

"The focus here should not merely be on authenticating, or banning, undefined devices connecting to the company's wireless infrastructure," says Brown. "Foreign physical devices such as USB drives should also be controlled.

"Of course, companies should look at having these security measures in place before the upcoming broadband boom if they want to be sufficiently safeguarded. With the above security measures in place, companies can focus exclusively on the benefits that an increase in broadband speeds will deliver to business," Brown concludes.