Crime patrol: Websense takes vanguard

NEW DELHI: Websense, one of the leading providers of web filtering solutions, has partnered with consultants like IDC and Frost & Sullivan to organize events, seminars and workshops to create awareness about emerging Internet threats for its customers, channel partners and resellers.

Speaking to CIOL Bureau, Geoff Haggart, VP EMEA &, APAC, Websense said that over the last two years, spyware and phishing have emerged as two of the largest threats to corporate computing amongst Indian Enterprises. Indian Enterprises are equipped to tackle legacy threats as they have been investing in solutions to tackle the same over the last 5 — 8 years. However the awareness and the rate of adoption of methods to proactively tackle the challenge need to increase, he said

Malicious threats can be categorized as Legacy Threats and Emerging Threats.Legacy threats mostly include virus attacks, whereas emerging threats include Spyware, Phishing attacks, Key Loggers, Malicious Mobile Codes and Botnets to name a few. Spyware has been used to launch corporate espionage, wherein unauthorized business critical information has been acquired and sold to rivals. Using a single password for all applications on a network exposes an organisation to greater risks of a spyware attack. “Considering the magnitude of danger that Emerging Threats currently pose to enterprises, it is imperative for enterprises in India to take significant measproactively safeguard against emerging malicious threats,” said Haggart. “We offer proof of concept demonstrations to customers to build awareness about threats associated with web browsing and how our security suites analyzes and mines websites to proactively safeguard against Internet threats,” he said.

According to him, the Websense web security Suite proactively discovers web security threats and prevents them from reaching the desktop amongst other provides an integrated web security solution that fills the time and technology gaps left open by traditional network defenses. Websense Web Security Suite includes the three Websense Web Protection Services which helps organizations protect their websites, brands, and web servers. SiteWatcher alerts Websense customers when their websites have been infected with malicious mobile code, allowing them to take immediate action to prevent its spread to customers, prospects, and partners. BrandWatcher alerts Websense customers when their websites or brands have been targeted in phishing or malicious keylogging code attacks.

ThreatWatcher provides Websense customers with a “hacker's-eye” view of their web server, regularly scanning for known vulnerabilities and potential threats and reporting on risk levels and recommended actions through a web-based portal, thus proactively preventing attacks. Speaking on their security labs, he said that they mine and analyzes over 350 million sites every week for malicious mobile code (MMC) and hacks. The findings are studied and analyzed to better understand the nature of these threats to the enterprise network systems.

Besides, Websense also announces their Web@work survey results specific to each of their key markets. The survey is a It is a comprehensive study of internet usage in the workplace which reveals unique insights on employees' surfing habits. It also provides a IT managers' perspective on the top network problems facing today's organizations as well as threats posed to the organisation due to employee internet usage, thus enabling them develop strategies to face the challenges.