Compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard: Meeting the Challenge with Symantec Technology
558560
(Source: Symantec)  At a high level, the 12 major security requirements under PCI seem fairly easy to implement and maintain. Upon closer examination, however, it becomes clear that attaining and maintaining compliance is a much more complex endeavor. This paper breaks down each requirement and details how Symantec solutions can help you get, and stay compliant.
524516
MasterCard's Chris Thom examines how new authentication technologies are changing credit cards.
758171
Multifactor authentication is all the rage these days, thanks to increasingly sophisticated trojans and phishing attacks and even rootkits aimed at stealing passwords and sensitive data. High-stakes online crime has even spurred financial services companies and some enterprises to consider new, "risk-based authentication" solutions, which examine behavioral patterns and session characteristics to identify rogue users.ADVERTISEMENTIBM Information On Demand 2006Industrial Industry Leaders, please join us at IBM's premier information management global event, IBM Information On Demand 2006, October 15-20, Anaheim, CA. More IBM business and technical solutions content in one place than ever before! Select from  over 800 sessions. Register today!
650360
Symantec's primary strategy in the enterprise may currently revolve around the notion of IT risk management, but the company's latest research finds that efforts to refine corporate process unrelated to security technology have become just as popular with customers moving to limit their exposure.According to Symantec's annual survey of 405 businesses, the notion that technologies used to improve IT security serve as the most vital element of corporate risk management currently ranks below other priorities among customers. Respondents to the study rated IT availability management and work on specific regulatory compliance projects as comparable, and in some cases more important, to their ongoing risk mitigation efforts.In addition, fewer businesses are utilizing a strategy that approaches IT risk as a standalone skill set or initiative, according to the Symantec report.One year ago, customers participating in the study indicated that the adoption of security technologies represented the central tenet of their risk management plans. In the 2008 report, 78 percent replied that availability maintenance concerns are now as vital to their exposure mitigation efforts as the installation of security tools.Some 70 percent of respondents replied that security projects are still a critical part of their approach. However, 53 percent of the IT-related incidents experienced by surveyed companies were tied to other issues besides problems with systems defense."IT risk doesn't necessarily equate to security risk. That's a big shift and the key takeaway is that organizations are getting more mature around the portfolio of risks they have to manage," said Samir Kapuria, managing director of Advisory Services at Symantec. "In the past, people looked at one area as discreet, but now they're addressing the four pillars of compliance, security, risk, and performance availability as part of a balanced strategy."Increasing interdependence on IT systems shared between business partners has elevated availability and performance concerns above security issues -- and businesses are more worried about causing a bottleneck in their global supply chain then they are looking to thwart attacks, the expert contends."IT systems availability can have a downstream impact which has had this downward effect," Kapuria said.Spending on compliance-oriented projects also stands as a major piece of most companies' plans, with 68 percent of those people responding stating that their employers rate those efforts as crucial to their risk management strategies.Respondents indicated that high-level risk management projects have become less central to their IT planning, with companies favoring targeted initiatives that address individual problems or regulations.In terms of the participants' expectations to avoid and prevent IT breakdowns, 69 percent said they believe they will encounter at least one minor incident per month, with 63 percent predicting a major IT failure at least once a year.Some 26 percent indicated they expect a failed regulatory compliance incident at least once annually, and 25 percent said that they will experience a data loss event every 12 months."This speaks volumes to the confidence that people have about their overall IT risk posture," said Kapuria. "Part of the problem is that people only do assessments on a bi-annual basis, or they might inventory their assets sporadically; that gap is what often leads to exposure in availability, security, compliance, or performance." All the individual projects involved need to be managed on an ongoing basis, he said.However, the process remains a moving target. Increased adoption of mobile devices and other distributed enterprise trends continue to boost data and compliance risks, while business practices -- including fast-paced mergers and acquisitions -- introduce greater complexity, Kapuria said.More than technological efforts, the Symantec report contends that companies may see faster returns in improving their risk status through greater investment in employee risk education and training.Only 43 percent of respondents rated their training and awareness programs as more than 75 percent effective, showing that companies are well aware of their current shortcomings, Kapuria said. The report shows a decrease of over 50 percent in companies' confidence about their training programs, compared to the year ago survey."The area where most people need to focus on is classifying their data, what it's used for, and what its sensitivity may be," said Kapuria. "Rather than just throwing technology at their problems, companies need to assess, and then apply the appropriate availability, security, and compliance requirements."
562774
(Source: Tizor)  With the severity of recent data breaches affecting brand name merchants, anxiety in the security and compliance community has reached a new high. Questions are being raised about what it means to be PCI compliant, particularly in the context of protecting sensitive data from data breaches.
575697
Here's what businesses need to know about Visa's new Payment Application Security Mandates.
581752
Symantec on Tuesday introduced versions of its consumer and small business security software with updates that protect against network-scanning worms such as Sasser, and keep phishing attacks at bay.
679573
The importance these days of protecting your business from security threats is clear. But how to do it well often remains a vexing problem. Major IT vendors have faced this challenge like everyone else -- but with a twist. As providers of security technology and IT systems vulnerable to threats, they've had to stay a step ahead of everyone else. That's why CIOs of technology stalwarts IBM and Intel and security technology provider Symantec have taken on security management as one of their key functions. All three companies have shared their lessons learned with InfoWorld.These CIOs have had to do more than take on the usual responsibility for driving their respective companies' efforts to defend their infrastructure, employees, and corporate reputations from any fallout related to data breaches or compliance violations. They've also had to be the in-house beta testers for a generation of new technologies their organizations hope to sell to customers. This balancing act demands more of their time and energy now than at any other point in their careers, all of the executives said.Security affects all of it "When I look at the risks here at Symantec, I know that we have to maintain a multilayered approach to protecting our IT assets: our ERP data, intellectual property, customer data, and personnel data. Managing the risk around all of that is a significant responsibility for me and my team," said David Thompson, CIO at Symantec."We have multiple large pools of information that are critical to our organization, and we're seeing more of that data move further toward the boundaries, toward the end points," he said. "My job is getting more data into the hands of our business units, but that creates a lot of risk in terms of where it goes, who has access to it, and what they are using it for, along with the risk of it being exposed."Even Thompson, who ranks his ability to "eat Symantec's own cooking" -- or use all of its security and compliance technologies -- as a huge advantage compared to CIOs working in other firms, admits that trying to keep up with all of the threats and regulations, as well as all the new products, is an effort that can become all-consuming.The key to staying ahead of the attacks and laws, while not spending too much of his time focused on security, is delegating to a strong team of experts and prioritizing which projects to tackle based on their criticality to Symantec's business. "As a business leader and IT executive, if you take the view of trying to fix everything, you'll never sleep a wink. You have to assess risks, and just as we'll never be able to completely secure our borders in the United States, you have to prioritize efforts to reduce risk as much as possible," Thompson said. "CIOs themselves must have a team that can help carry a good portion of the load so that they can stay focused on business relationships, clearing roadblocks, and being the public face of that team."Among the most critical roles that any CIO or technology executive must play in aiding the efforts of their security staff is to drive high-level assessments of risk and figure out how their companies must strategize to complete projects that address the most significant threats and compliance regulations, Thompson contended. The most effective strategy, he noted, is to determine which projects most readily address specific threats or government requirements and focus on them, he said. Otherwise, a broad-brush approach to security will lead to unnecessary complexity and eat up all of your time. Thompson also noted that even with the latest security technology available to him, the security strategy is more important than just having good security tools.At IBM, CIO Mark Hennessy also stressed the importance of delegating to his team of security experts and of conducting near-constant risk assessment. But even with that delegation, security remains a top focus for him, he said. "The world is changing, and there are a lot of new realities around security to address. Fostering stronger security across the board is a core tenet, as it helps to bring more value to everything we do," he said. "We want to make our employees more comfortable and more productive, and drive greater success for the clients we serve, so it's something we constantly need to remain focused on," he added.The security-vs.-complexity challenge Malcolm Harkins, general manager of Intel's Information Risk and Security unit, works directly with the chip giant's CIO Douglas Busch on issues of internal operational security and compliance. Harkins said that one of the biggest challenges that organizations such as Intel face is the process of improving security in the face of rapidly advancing IT complexity.On top of that, ongoing efforts to lower the total cost of securing a company the size of Intel -- while keeping up with emerging threats and regulations -- is driving the firm to seek greater standardization in some areas, and to integrate larger groups of technologies in others. "We currently have over 40 individual security software and hardware providers that we are doing business with, and that's a lot of different pieces to have to integrate," Harkins said. "It's almost crazy from an IT standpoint, so we want to employ greater levels of standardization to help us with issues of consistency; we'll always have a very heterogeneous environment, but we really need a more consistent set of tools. The more standardization you have, the easier it is to make things more secure."One of the most crucial steps any company can take in terms of improving its security is driving understanding of the attacks and laws across their highest executive ranks and ensuring that leaders who become involved in matters of security maintain realistic goals and objectives, Harkins said.But that does not mean being heavy-handed in terms of the security levels demand, he noted. C-level executives who take an extremely conservative approach and desire to aggressively lock down all their IT systems may in fact do more harm than good, he said. "Some companies believe that by severely limiting the use of technologies that pose risks, they are improving their defenses, but the truth is they may just be creating a false sense of security," Harkins said."In reality, they are limiting the ability of their business to operate effectively and are increasing risk by creating barriers and policies that can't be enforced practically," he said. In IT, "you have to work with [C-suite] to change their approach from one that is focused on responding to fears to one that is focused on key controls that solve real problems. You have to have executive buy-in, but by taking the wider approach of considering legal, compliance, and security issues together, you will end up with stronger protection, lower costs, and less complexity."
523265
roundupThere's no question retailers love RFID. But will problems of privacy and unreliability prove to be too great?
544569
The latest six-month report on Internet threats shows a staggering breadth and complexity. Symantec Corp.&#39;s Internet Security Threat Report (http://enterprisesecurity .
737263
This paper discusses the use of NetFlow, a traffic profile monitoring technology available on many routers, for use in the early detection of worms, spammers, and other abnormal network activity in large enterprise networks and service providers. Part 2 of 2.
753082
(Source: Credant)  New technology to meet security, operations, and compliance needs Security has evolved beyond merely encrypting "bits on disks". The paradigm must shift from Full Disk Encryption to Full Data Encryption to protect against insider threats and avoid significant manageability and usability issues.
433732
There&#39;s good news and bad news on the security front. Internet security company Symantec Corp. on Monday released its Internet Security Threat Report, which provides a six-month snapshot
336782
Last week's changes to the payment card industry data security standard should help address some outstanding implementation issues, analysts say.
184114
Retailers attending the ERIexchange conference in Boston complained that security standards imposed by credit card companies are costly to implement and leave them with an unfair burden in securing credit card data.
502612
A beta version of its next-generation Total Protection 2.0 consumer security software.
437535
The case for identifiable devices Trusted computing proponents may have found their best argument yet for incorporating specialised security hardware into every computer system.â¦