Opinions — News

Infosec's mega marketing misalignment mishap

Talk about disconnect! Analysts, security engineers and other infosec geeks aim for Swiss-watch precision, because one little mistake means the bad guys win. We want people to take this seriously, right? So why do certain marketing and PR departments spread a load of what my father, a man more polite than me, would have called "bulldust"?

Stilgherrian | 13 Sep | Read more

Security Operations the Final Frontier – Part II

I have created my own interpretation of what a good pragmatic Security Operations Model (SOM) would look like. This has been adapted from a number of Security Frameworks and Industry Good Practices like ITIL, COBIT, NIST, OCTAVE, OWASP and the ever present ISO 27001/2 all of which have an input into the structure and makeup of an effective security operations framework or security operations model.

Puneet Kukreja | 13 Sep | Read more

Accessibility Trumps All

Every year sees an increase in usage of the Internet. Broadband penetration rises. More websites are created. Business grows by sharing information with their partners. This desire to reach the masses and provide goods and service cheaper and faster than their competitors often means trade-offs are made. These trade-offs typically involve trading accessibility for security.

Jarrod Loidl | 07 Sep | Read more

Security Operations the Final Frontier

Operations Shady RAT, Operation Aurora, Operation Night Dragon sounds like names out of a WikiLeaks memo or even more a Hollywood action blockbuster. Sadly not, these are the three names that have done the rounds in the last 2 – 3 years where information security defenses of organizations were not only breached but data assets were stolen for sure.

Puneet Kukreja | 31 Aug | Read more

IPv6 - The devil you don't know...

“Better the devil you know than the devil you don't”. No matter how bad something is, knowing about it is half the battle won. So when something new comes along, like IPv6, its very newness is an issue.

Karl Auer | 24 Aug | Read more

Opinion: Risk Assessments Are Not Worth the Risk

For years, professionals of the information security industry have been advising and using risk-based approaches to securing organisations and their information assets. This has been the received wisdom for so long that this is now encompassed in industry standards, such as ISO 27001, FIPS 200, etc.

Charles Wale | 19 Aug | Read more

Opinion: Information Security - Shaping the Future

With a career in IT longer than I am willing to admit (suffice to say that it all began in a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth!), I am a relatively recent recruit to the Information Security profession. Not that the concept of security was new or strange, after all, security has been a function of IT for as long as I’ve been around.

Sue Strodl | 15 Aug | Read more

Opinion: Breadth First Hacking

Recent publicity for online hacking groups such as Anonymous and Lulzsec has seemed to show that nobody is immune from attack on the Internet. Once targeted, it seems that these groups are capable of breaching security systems and retrieving data, including identity information, from the most secure systems.

Robert Layton | 13 Aug | Read more

Opinion: Enterprise Security Architecture as a discipline – the three viewpoints.

Enterprise Security Architecture for an organisation as a discipline is required to outline an enterprise wide risk-driven approach to information security and deliver infrastructure solutions in response to the organisations threat profile. Enterprise Security Architecture is required to drive and support the standardisation and management of an organisations information security discipline.

Puneet Kukreja | 10 Aug | Read more

Opinion: Getting the best out of your IT security auditor

Many IT managers and their teams treat an audit of their IT function as if it was a trip to the dentist for a root canal. More informed operators will realize that IT audit, particularly internal audit can assist them in gaining visibility with management of known and often ignored issues and securing funding and management commitment. The following are tips to help you get the most out of an IT audit of your IT security by avoid disruption, piecemeal activities and duplication of effort.

Matthew Hackling | 29 Jun | Read more