Cyber crimes can be counter attacked

With Web becoming a major platform for the Cyber criminals to launch security attacks, V.Sudhakshina of CyberMedia News speaks to Manish Bansal, marketing manager, Websense Software Services India Private Limited, about emerging security threats via Web, Growth of Web 2.0 solutions, and Websense (EIP) strategy.

What are the major security threats for business coming via the Web, and how do you evaluate technology becoming sort of puppet in the hands of criminals?

Today, Web is the biggest vector of security attacks. Most of the attacks converge to the web or utilize web as a platform to launch various security attacks. Phishing, Spyware, Zero-day attacks, Blended threats and Keylogging are examples of some of the security threats that use the web.

Hackers are launching malicious web sites, installing malware on reputed websites to target people at large. Attackers are targeting ‘trusted’ Web sites with good reputations to circumvent traditional security measures and maximize attack effectiveness.

In our Threatseeker Network Research Highlights, Q3-Q4 2008, we found that 77 per cent of Websites with malicious code are legitimate sites that have been compromised. The number of malicious Websites identified by Websense Security Labs from January 1, 2008 through January 1, 2009 has increased by 46 per cent.

Furthermore, 70 per cent of the top 100 sites either hosted malicious content or contained a masked redirect to lure unsuspecting victims from legitimate sites to malicious sites. This represents a 16 per cent increase over the last six-month period.

Regarding technology becoming puppet in the hands of criminals, there are a few out there who misuse technology to benefit themselves, however, there are solutions available to counter their attacks.

Nowadays the threat via Internet is more of indirect nature. How Websense is helping fight such indirect threats?

Websense through the Websense ThreatSeeker Network, powered by the world’s first Internet HoneyGrid, provides the intelligence by delivering real-time reputation analysis and expanded behavioral analysis. This gives users the most up-to-date protection possible from unwanted content and malicious threats.

What is the function of Websense Essential Information Protection (EIP) strategy?

Many of today’s most virulent security threats are to the essential data held within an organization. Websense Essential Information Protection is based on best-in-class products and hosted solutions that provide integrated threat defense and powerful policy-based control over organization's sensitive data. We allow the organizations to control all the critical elements of Web, data, and messaging security.

Our solutions first identify early threat across email and web channels and provide real-time identification and blocking of high-risk websites.

Next, highly accurate data identification occurs on the enterprise premise and across the Internet, through lexical analysis, pattern detection, statistical analysis, natural language processing, and actual data fingerprinting.

By combining these techniques, we provide classification and identification of Internet data plus the data and threat understanding required to protect enterprises from data loss. It also provides Internet context for the Websense data, email, and web security solutions.

Websense protects essential information against cross-channel, blended, dynamic Web 2.0 threats. Enterprises and small to medium businesses get integrated Web, messaging, and data security solutions that make their organizations safer, more productive, and more efficient.

The Essential Information Protection (EIP) strategy is delivered through the Websense ThreatSeeker Network.

To create the ThreatSeeker Network, we augmented our ThreatSeeker technology with organically developed and acquired email security, hosted security, and data loss prevention technologies from SurfControl and Port Authority.

We then added dedicated content and email security specialists to the Websense Security Labs team of researchers. The result is a network of technology and human intelligence that creates an adaptive feedback network that uses more than 50 million real-time data collecting systems to parse one billion pieces of content daily.

This allows us to provide customers with the most advanced content classification, data identification, and security filtering available to mitigate risks to customer data and productivity.

What is the growth rate of Web 2.0 solutions in India?

It is difficult to predict the growth rate but more and more organizations are beginning to embrace Web 2.0 technologies to facilitate collaboration across organizational and technology silos and to build new communication channels with customers, partners, and employees around the globe.

A new generation is driving Web 2.0 use in the workplace. The use of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are the 'new email' and mode of communication, and the latest generation expects to be able to use their Web 2.0 devices and sites when they enter the workforce.

In addition, marketing and communication departments are pushing IT departments to open up this access in an effort to grow and maintain their customer base.