A subsidiary of US-based EDS Corporation, EDS Africa employs over 2 200 staff nationwide. It outsources its services to clients in the communications, manufacturing, mining, energy, retail, finance, insurance and public sectors. It helps its clients improve business performance by meeting their systems and technology, business process management, management consulting, co-sourcing, Internet and electronic market needs.
Liz de Haas, senior IS security analyst, says companies must be proactive when safeguarding their own and their clients` data.
"Most organisations are unaware that over 65% of system intrusions originate internally, behind the protection of the firewall," says De Haas. "ISS has recognised this trend and developed a suite of products that monitor total network activity, not just external traffic, with failsafe features that isolate system weaknesses, intercept potential intrusions and nullify any damage caused as a consequence."
De Haas says ISS products are offered by EDS worldwide.
"Clients trust us with their data, so as our number one priority we are contracted to ensure our clients` data is secure, both from external intrusion and from other clients," she says. "To do so, we can implement as many firewalls and encryption policies as we want, but without proper network monitoring facilities we can`t guarantee comprehensive data security."
RealSecure, Internet Scanner and System Security Scanner form an integral part of the ISS SAFEsuite family of network security products based on ANS technology. SAFEsuite enables a network security manager to observe, measure and detect realtime security threats and control and analyse vulnerabilities across an entire network infrastructure without degrading network performance or exposing the network to additional risk.
"Our network managers can minimise security risks without sacrificing the benefits of open computing environments and the Internet," adds De Haas. "SAFEsuite provides us with best-of-breed solutions that allow us to effectively manage the vulnerabilities and threats that drive security risk."
Security managers have two choices - either invest money in thoroughbred security solutions and be proactive in doing so, or choose to be reactive and tackle an intrusion once its occurred.
"Being proactive demands a capital investment in security tools and skills," says SMCec MD Dov Herdan. "Although the latter saves on short-term capital expenditure, it`s by far a more expensive solution in the long term, not only for potential data loss, but also for the loss of credibility that builds future business."
Share
Editorial contacts