Security, IT infrastructures and business continuity

data centre management Alot has been written on the developments and trends in the data centre, particularly around virtualisation and Cloud Computing, green IT and the potential new market for service providers that will grow out of these new technologies and the need for associated advisory services. With the projected ... read more..

Jonathan Kirsop and Noel Butcher from Stephenson Harwood explore the impact social networking has on personal privacy and the likely effects. After their rapid rise, Social Networking Sites (SNSs) such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter are now looking for ways to monetize either with one-eye on an eventual IPO ... read more..

The National Computing Centre's Daniel Dresner says it's time the standard for escrow is reanimated. There's something deeply suspicious about source code escrow. Only Schrdinger's cat knows what's in the box. OK. So perhaps that's not entirely accurate because if it's done properly you know what's been archived. But like ... read more..

IT Assist, the ICT shared services provider for the Northern Ireland Civil Service have become the latest organisation to achieve accreditation to the new NCC national standard. Consolidating IT services and reducing costs in the public sector through Shared Services has been a government objective since the Gershon Review in 2004. ... read more..

The adoption of server-based virtualisation is gaining pace as organisations face up to a new decade with ever tighter budgets. However, many of the potential benefits of desktop virtualisation are as yet untapped. The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) presents the opportunity to fundamentally transform the cost model of desktop computing ... read more..

The outbreak of potential data breach reports in the UK prompts obvious and inevitable questions: How can these things happen in the first place? How many more times is personal information lost without anyones acknowledgement and, some would argue most importantly, what can be done to secure the corporate defences? ... read more..

With unemployment, hiring freezes and redundancy dominating the headlines, its not surprising that many business professionals will happily say goodbye to a recession-dominated 2009 and look forward to a more positive 2010. The IT sector, like many others, was unable to sidestep the impact of a global recession, experiencing a ... read more..

We are operating in a relentlessly changing business environment, with uncertainty fast becoming one of the only constants on which senior management can rely. Globalisation, market consolidation, ongoing technological advancements and heightened customer expectations, as well as increased regulation exacerbated by the fall out of the financial crisis, are all ... read more..

As the CTO of a data protection and encryption company I hear many a tale of woe as other CTOs and CEOs confess to me the stories of how various laptops within their companies have gone astray and the destruction these lost laptops have caused in their wake. With this ... read more..

Ian Kilpatrick of Wick Hill Group discusses how the latest botnet threats are evolving and offers some suggestions as to how you can protect against them.Over the last year, the incidence of botnet (or zombie) attacks has been growing rapidly. Some service providers around the world have already begun to ... read more..

To be successful, todays business needs to strike a balance between cost-efficiencies, keeping a productive workforce motivated and ensuring that they are mindful of corporate and legislative compliance. However, the way that organisations interact, work and do business has taken on a collaborative nature which has to fit in with ... read more..

Businesses today face more data security threats than ever before.The threat landscape is constantly evolving to the point that as soon as a new security measure is put in place, that measure will likely be breached or become redundant in the face of a new threat. Security aims to stay ... read more..

There is no precise legal definition of fraud, the term is used to describe a multitude of offences, including deception, forgery, theft, misappropriation, collusion and false representation of material facts. Given this wide potential then for wrong-doing it is perhaps surprising that fraud is not featured in the National Policing ... read more..

Simply securing information systems is no longer enough. Increasingly, organisations need to be able to demonstrate that their systems and the information they contain are protected. This means finding a way to gather relevant information, in one place that provides an accessible overview of current information security status, creating confidence ... read more..

Including the 2006 results, Ernst Young's Global Information Security Survey has shown over the past years that many companies are making significant progress in mitigating risks by strengthening their information security. It suggests information securitys organisational position will be strengthened through the convergence of continuous improvements and companies recognising ... read more..

Ernst Young's 10th Annual Global Information Security Survey of 1,300 organisations across 50 countries found that information security remains too isolated from executive management and the strategic decision-making process. Recent incidents in the UK have done much to highlight the lack of protection of information assets held by organizations, ... read more..

Ernst Young's 10th Global Fraud Survey of 1,186 senior business executives from 33 countries found that illegal business practices such as bribery are still being used by organisations to secure or retain business despite the rise in anti-corruption legislation and law enforcement. It is worryingly clear from the survey ... read more..

Ernst Young's 2nd IT Internal Audit Survey compared the current state of IT internal auditing across 60 leading companies from the UK, Ireland and Sweden via interviews with CIOs, Heads of Internal Audit and Audit Committees. CIOs and Heads of Internal Audit agree that information security and major business ... read more..

Ernst Young's 2008 Global Information Security Survey - one of the longest running and most recognized annual surveys within the global information security arena.Moving beyond compliance ... read more..

The term 'Information Assurance' in its broadest sense is the process for enabling the right information to be available securely to the right people at the right time for best business advantage. To achieve this business requirement organisations need to: move away from traditional command and control ... read more..

AT A GLANCE Customer: BAA plc. Industry: Transportation, retail and property management. Challenge: To provide strategic guidance to BAA in achieving responsible and profitable growth of air travel by upgrading and developing its IT infrastructure in line with its business objectives. Solution: Utilised wealth of know-how in conjunction with experienced know-why to renew desktop ... read more..

RD investment still exists in West Midlands! Despite the majority of ICT businesses in the West Midlands region employing fewer than ten people, almost 500 of them are engaging in research and development, according to a survey by the West Midlands ICT cluster. Even during the recession, 33 percent of the 1,503 ... read more..

My colleagues, Gary McGraw and Sammy Migues, and I interviewed executives at some of the world's top software security programs in 2008. These discussions were truly enlightening, revealing some interesting ideas, and we're in the process of using the data collected to build a maturity model. However, one insight was ... read more..

The NCC and member oranisation Erudine, have recently undertaken a major piece of research to better understand the role of people, culture and technology in protecting the business. Here we share some of the key findings . . . Organisational culture and attitudes are critical components of a successful, modern business ... read more..

A world first from NCC Until now, no standards for source code escrow have been set. NCC, with legal and technical expertise from across the world, and the backing of the European Commission, has set the standards. The industry consensus guide supplies: Promotes the use of escrow to purchasers ... read more..

Advance fee frauds (AFFs) often originate from certain parts of Africa. AFFs are often called 419 schemes after section 4.1.9 of the Nigerian penal code. Common characteristics of an AFF scheme include: An individual or business receives a communication, typically an email, from an 'official' purporting to ... read more..

Spoofing is used by scammers and hackers to impersonate a trusted user or computer by sending a message appearing to be from that trusted source. The message may be an email message, or data going straight to a server. The Internet and the local area networks used by most ... read more..

The security of business IT systems has never been so important. Businesses rely more and more on IT to underpin their activities, and this makes them increasingly vulnerable to threats from hackers, viruses and even their own staff. Having the correct information at the right time can make the ... read more..

The term 'broadband' is used to describe any high-speed connection to the Internet. However, there are in fact several different types of broadband connection available in the UK. The main difference between broadband and traditional telephone communications is that broadband is based on digital technology, and the telephone is ... read more..

A telephone system is a basic requirement for any business, but telecommunications can also be used to enhance efficiency, adopt more flexible working methods and improve customer service. Get the most from your phone system outlines the main types of phone system and line available to small businesses and the ... read more..