OTA: over 90% of data breaches in the first half of 2014 “could have been avoided”

January 22, 2015 by Neil Ford  

The Online Trust Alliance (OTA), the global non-profit organisation “with the mission to enhance online trust and empower users, while promoting innovation and the vitality of the internet”, released its 2015 Security & Privacy Best Practices and Security & Privacy Risk Assessment guides yesterday.

According to its analysis of “nearly 500 breaches reported in the first half of 2014”, more than “90% could have been avoided had simple controls and security best practices been implemented.”

OTA recommends the following best practices:

-      Enforce effective password management policies.

-      Employ least privilege user access (LUA) to provide protection against malicious network behaviour and system faults.

-      Deploy multi-layered firewall protection; use up-to-date antivirus software; enable patch management for operating systems, apps and add-ons; disable auto-running of removable media; and employ whole-disk encryption.

-      Conduct regular penetration tests and vulnerability scans.

-      Require email authentication on all inbound and outbound mail streams to detect phishing and spoofed emails.

-      Implement a mobile device management programme.

-      Continuously monitor the organisation’s infrastructure security.

-      Deploy web application firewalls to mitigate common threats, as identified by OWASP.

-      Only permit authorised devices to connect wirelessly to the network and encrypt communications with wireless devices.

-      Implement Always On Secure Sockets Layer (AOSSL) for all servers requiring login authentication and data collection to prevent data sniffing.

-      Review server certificates for vulnerabilities and risks of domain hijacking.

-      Develop, test, and continually refine a data breach response plan.

Organisations that are concerned about information security and want to implement OTA’s recommendations will be pleased to learn that there is a single best-practice solution that can be employed to address all of the points listed above.

ISO 27001, the international information security standard, sets out the requirements of an enterprise-wide information security management system (ISMS) that encompasses people, processes and technology.

IT Governance ISO 27001 packaged solutions – Get A Little Help

IT Governance’s recently relaunched ISO 27001 packaged solutions provide ISMS implementation resources for all organisations concerned about information security. The ISO 27001 Get A Little Help Package contains three international standards, two training course places, two essential implementation guides, a comprehensive documentation toolkit, the ISO 27001-compliant risk assessment software tool vsRisk, and two hours’ Live Online consultancy support.

It is aimed at organisations that already have some management system expertise and an initial understanding of information security management, as well as the necessary available internal resources and a corporate culture of using best-in-class tools and skills to accelerate learning and implementation while still essentially following a do-it-yourself approach to project management.

Predictions for 2011: Environmental Drivers of Communications Trends

By Rob Rich, Managing Director, TM Forum Insights Research

A fundamental in understanding growth for communications services is the state of the global economy, as overall telecom financial performance is related to economic growth. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) the global economy will expand 4.2 percent in 2011. The good news is that the recovery started in 2010 continues, though at a slower rate. However, concerns about the sustainability of sovereign debt levels and growing trade imbalances around the world pose risks to this recovery.

China and India are expected to lead the larger economies in growth, with China growing in the 9 percent range, and India around 8 percent. Developed economies are not expected to fare nearly as well, with the U.S. expected to achieve a rate of 2.2 percent, Japan a rate of 2 percent and the European Union slightly less than 2 percent. Other important trends include:

Strong growth in Africa: This decade is expected to see massive development in Africa, evolving from Western aid to Eastern trade-based economic models.

Energy remains a key source of growth. It continues to play a key role, with the continuing upward trend in oil and natural gas prices. Countries with large reserves will continue rapid growth.

The impact of policy-based stimulus programs slows to a crawl: Many of the stimulus programs initiated in response to the global recession have run their course and are unlikely to be repeated, if only because most governments no longer have the funds to provide additional support.

Inflation remains low to moderate. While demand for commodities (especially food and energy) increases, prices hold relatively steady. Fast growth countries like China take steps to curb national inflation. Against these global trends, here are our top 10 predictions for 2011 – we live in interesting times.

Prediction 1: The margin crunch intensifies

Fixed line revenues, including for data, are under pressure and the rapid growth of mobile broadband hasn't brought additional revenues, but requires massive investment in network capacity.

Arguably communications service providers' (CSPs) greatest opportunity is in acting as enabler for other parties in the value chain. In the short term, there is no quick fix.

Prediction 2: Cloud services approach the mainstream

There's lots of activity in this area with different companies investing in data centers, computing infrastructure, software platforms and much more. Not all of them will succeed and we expect to see rationalization during 2011.

We predict the sweet spots will be small and medium-sized businesses, emerging markets and Software as a Service. In addition, lots of enterprises will be forced towards the adoption of cloud by financial considerations.

Prediction 3: Data management and analytics become critical competencies

Communications is one of the world's most data intensive businesses, yet the timely and effective use of this data is lagging way behind that of many other industries. This needs to be addressed.

Data management and analytics can improve the customer experience, thereby increasing revenue, enhancing the brand, reducing churn and extending the CSPs' role across the value chain, particularly when the information is available in real time or near real time. CSPs need to start by figuring out where the biggest payback will be, and go from there.

Prediction 4: Machine-to-machine accelerates

After a slowdown in 2010, we predict rapid growth this year, particularly in automotive, asset management, energy management, home and business security and telehealth.

Prediction 5: Smart utilities grow

The combination of demand, rising energy costs and stimulus funds are pushing this sector along, with most of this year's growth coming from smart meters and experimentation with dynamic pricing. Demand response technologies and distribution automation will play increasingly big roles.

There is resistance among customers to smart metering – including a class action suit in California – education will be all-important. Smart grids also have a role to play in securing electricity supplies in the face of cyber attacks.

Prediction 6: Mobile advertising moves to the mainstream

Propelled by the rise of smartphones, apps and mobile broadband and mobile advertising's effectiveness, this will be the year it goes mainstream. Great attention needs to be paid to privacy and consumers' concerns to avoid irritating them and provoking regulators into action. Nevertheless, this is a huge opportunity for operators.

Prediction 7: The bandwidth crunch continues

Network operators are struggling to keep up with demand for capacity, to the extent that customer dissatisfaction with their services is having a negative effect on some brands. Given the rise in video traffic and the continuing proliferation of smartphones, the situation is likely to worsen in 2011. The uneven economic recovery is making it difficult for service providers to raise revenues and the specter of net neutrality is an additional brake on investment. Even so, massive investments in infrastructure are underway around the world, but they will not do much to ease the bandwidth crunch in 2011.

Prediction 8: Mobile payments make progress

Although many think of mobile payments in terms of developing economies where few people have bank accounts or credit cards, they are swiftly moving up the agenda in developed economies. Lots of different parties are keen to make an impact, from technology firms to network operators, credit card companies, device makers and start-ups. In November 2010, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile USA set up a mobile commerce venture to address this market and keep the card companies out. Many, many other initiatives are underway, with Google, Apple and others hovering.

Prediction 9: Social media prove an opportunity and a threat

In 2010, web users spent more of their time on social media – blogs, wikis, social networking, social gaming and so on – than anything else, and it is accounting for a larger share of their online activity as time passes. While this is a great way for service providers to capture lots of data about how their brand is perceived and what users are thinking, if ignored or mismanaged social media are potentially very damaging.

Yet few CSPs are using analytics to monitor and exploit social media, as they do for other channels. Most are missing huge opportunities; a few will emerge as leaders at the end of 2011.

Prediction 10: Security issues become more serious

The growth in the number and type of devices is presenting plenty of opportunity for cyber criminals of all types. As the number rises dramatically due to more affordable devices coming onto the market, the problem will only get worse. Arguably, this will be surpassed by the expected explosion in machine-to-machine communications, which will also be targeted.

Ten reasons why SA companies should look towards hosted VoIP

Gail Holt Zycko | 15 February, 2011

According to trends analysts IDC, IT strategies in Africa for the year 2011 will be characterised by technologies including the cloud and virtualisation
This trend is being driven in large by increasing availability and affordability of bandwidth, making hosted services more of a reality than ever before.

This combined with an almost insatiable appetite for ever cheaper and better quality communications is driving an increasing interest in hosted Voice over IP (VoIP) in the business world. VoIP has long been a technology of interest due to its ability to bring down the cost of telephony and provide greater flexibility, but with the additional availability of bandwidth in the African region, the prospect of running VoIP as a hosted service is now possible and no longer a pipe dream.

A hosted VoIP solution means that organisations in Africa can harness the advantaged of VoIP as well as all of the well known benefits of outsourcing a solution, from access to scarce skills, better uptime and easier management to the ability to incorporate a range of advanced features and functionality that may not have been affordable with a traditional system in place.

Benefit #1 - Lower Total Cost of Ownership

A hosted VoIP solution enables savings right from the onset as it is no longer necessary to purchase expensive 'boxes' or systems. All an organisation needs are VoIP-ready handsets and the hosting service provider will take care of the rest. The service provider will also manage both the phone and data lines, enabling further cost savings. Organisations can obtain access to the most advanced technologies without having to invest large sums of money in hardware, making this an affordable option even for smaller businesses, and allowing them to access communications technology that was previously only available to larger companies.

Benefit #2 - Simpler IT support

Traditional phone systems are fairly complex and require a high level of skill to maintain. However a hosted VoIP solution removes this barrier to entry, as it uses a simple web interface and therefore requires very little IT support or training to administer. Users can be quickly added or deleted and additional features enabled by administrators from their computers through the intuitive interface, thus making additional support or staff members unnecessary. This in turn leads to further cost savings through simplified maintenance of the system as the resources can be allocated to other areas of the business.

Benefit #3 - Reduced Capital Investment

With hosted VoIP it is no longer necessary to spend large amounts of capital on expensive systems. Other than the actual handsets there is no investment required and no large capital expenses to depreciate over time. Hosted VoIP is an operating expense rather than a capital expense, so all businesses need to pay is an affordable monthly service fee to have access to a range of capabilities that can improve productivity and connect the business to advanced telephony.

Benefit #4 - Improved Business Continuity

Communication is at the heart of any modern enterprise and the last thing any business needs is for phone services to go down. Hosted VoIP solves this problem by incorporating failover systems that kick in should things go wrong. Because the physical box does not reside on the business premises but in a redundant and secure data centre off site, even if the building is affected by floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters the phones remain unaffected. A web-based portal enables users to quickly forward calls to cell phones or unaffected locations so that business can carry on without affecting customers.

Benefit #5 - Easy scalability

Hosted VoIP is a highly flexible solution as the number of employees on the system is not constrained, so expanding or reducing the number of users is a simple and cost-effective process. If resources become tight or the number of employees needs to be reduced this can easily be accommodated, and in times of growth it is quick and easy to scale up without incurring massive costs or disruption to the business. This gives organisations the ability to immediately make changes and scale up or down with fluctuating business needs.

Benefit #6 - Added functionality

A hosted VoIP solution gives businesses access to a wide range of functionality that can be activated on demand to suit the needs of any organisation. From HD voice to automatic voicemail forwarding and remote call following to phone systems integrated with Outlook or CRM systems, the potential for expansion is practically limitless. Hosted VoIP gives any size business the ability to access features and functionality that were previously only available to large enterprise because of cost constraints.

Benefit #7 - Automatic Upgrades

Outsourcing VoIP to a hosted provider means that businesses no longer need to upgrade hardware to take advantage of new features and technologies. All upgrades will be done by the host and will be delivered through software changes that happen automatically in the background. So businesses will always have access to the latest technology without the need for expensive upgrades every time something is updated.

Benefit #8 - Productivity Anywhere

Traditional telephony systems are highly desk bound, which in today's world is no longer the ideal scenario. A hosted VoIP solution gives businesses the ability to gain access to constant connectivity and productivity anywhere, anytime, whether employees are at their desks, in the boardroom or on the road. Workers can access the communication features of the VoIP system no matter where they are, improving productivity dramatically.

Benefit #9 - Access to Powerful Video Conferencing

Travel can be an added expense that during tough times many businesses cannot afford. Video conferencing enables the productivity of face-to-face interactions without the cost of travel. Hosted VoIP enables organisations to quickly and easily access video calling capabilities (part of Unified Communications), making calls far more personal and productive than traditional phone calls.

Benefit #10 - Focus on core business capabilities

By removing the worry and maintenance of phone systems, organisations can better focus on their core business capabilities. The management of these increasingly complex business communications systems is outsourced and handled offsite, so the telephony system continues to work while employees can get on with their jobs safe in the knowledge that the telephony system will just work, whenever they need it to, and they can access features like voice and video without having to know why and how they work.

To conclude

Hosted VoIP has numerous benefits that can help telecommunications in Africa to be brought onto a level with the rest of the world. Now that bandwidth is not the obstacle it once was, and IT spend is expected to increase in Africa over the next year, hosted solutions such as VoIP have become a reality and can drive greater productivity and efficiency in business operations.

Predictions for South Africa – Business Bites Think Tank

January 27, 2011 by David Graham

I attended the Business Bites Think Tank this morning and listened to what Mike Stopworth of Cerebra, Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx, Dion Chang of Flux Trends, Stafford Masie, Toby Shapshak of Stuff Magazine and Aki Anastasiou of Talk Radio 702 are predicting in terms of future technology trends in South Afica. This is what I gleaned from the conference:

• Do not underestimate the reach and velocity of users on social networks to spread information quickly. Bear in mind that this also includes misinformation, however the ratio sways towards “good” information on a 80/20 basis
• The technology evolution that is taking place is being met with some resistance. It is human nature to resist change. A book titled The Victorian Internet draws similarities with the invention of the telegraph. The point that was being made is that change is inevitable, so embrace it.
• Companies are not doing enough in terms of using analytical tools such as Google Analytics, tracking and online reputation tools. There are thousands of connected, engaged consumers out there. It pays to know what they are saying about your brand
• Company websites are not up-to-standard and are not optimised. Work needs to be done to enhance the user experience
• This is the year of content, a lot of which is being produced by individuals. Services that were only available from international sources is going to be made available locally (iTunes was one of the services that was mentioned)
• The market to watch is “rest of Africa” as broadband is being introduced. Price reduction in smart phones and connectivity will play a huge factor
• There is going to be an explosion of mobile phones and tablets and availability of mobile applications
• There was an interesting discussion around the pros and cons of social networks and their effect on children and the general public. There was consencus that the general public needs to be educated on the do’s and don’ts of the Internet and social networks and that parents need to be good role models for their children

One key message is that consumer is king. Companies do not own their brand, the consumer does! Consumers will dictate what they want in terms of technology and applications. There was a veiled threat that companies who continue to ignore the changes that are currently happening and those predicted will be severely handicapped.

Comms Cloud moving from concept to business reality

It is with great excitement that I watch our new telecoms concept, Comms Cloud Managed Infrastructure Services, move towards becoming a reality.

Next week sees our branding and corporate identity being unveiled to us for the first time and I have started pitching “next generation” ideas to customers that I have long standing relationships with.

What is fascinating for me is the endless opportunity for optimisation, technology upgrades and the resultant business benefits [savings included] that are on table for businesses today. Disruptive technologies rule!

Watch this space carefully; we are going to offer clients a viable and exciting new offering within the next few months.

Peter Walsh
Cape Town
January 2011

2010: 10 key tech moments that are shaping our future | memeburn

Share By Uzair Parker
12.29.10

As 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on some of the key technologies that have influenced, inspired and dominated the mobile, web and software product markets this year:

1. The Rise of the Tablets

Announced in early January, Apple’s iPad was one of the most significant product launches this year: The world’s first fully functional tablet PC. Described as being revolutionary and magical, many early critics initially dismissed the device as nothing more than a larger version of the iPod Touch. Yet, it was anything but that.

The iPad set the standard for tablet devices with its sleek and glossy design, packing a powerful processor with access to Apple’s famed iTunes marketplace that had business owners scrambling to get their web product onto an iPad-friendly application format.

It is one mean piece of hardware and with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab sparking the Android vs Apple battle plus Rim’s Blackberry Playbook now entering the fray, it’s a clear indication that tablet PCs are here to stay.

2. Augmented Reality takes a bold leap

Augmented reality applications have really hit home this year by extending beyond the mobile sphere and into the console gaming environment with both Playstation and Microsoft taking the lead. Microsoft’s Kinect system for the XBox has redefined the gaming genre with its full body, controller-less motion, making augmented reality gaming a, well, reality within your living room. And the EyePet for the Playstation 3 and PSP provides a showcase of what console cameras and motion sensing are capable of. Of course, augmented reality is not limited only to gaming. Layar, Augmented ID and TwittARound are but a few of the current applications which make good use of this technology. Augmented reality has now began filtering into the business sectors where companies are taking note of its showcase appeal with regards to sales and marketing.

3. Android

Google’s mobile OS, Android, also includes middleware, key applications and an SDK which provides the tools and APIs necessary to begin developing applications on the Android platform using Java. With over two dozen Android powered phones, Google’s answer to the iPhone has an authoritative stamp of approval within the smartphone market. Sleek, customisable and with a modified Linux kernel for an engine, it’s no wonder Android has become the de facto smartphone choice, ranking first amongst all the OS handsets sold this year in the U.S. alone.

4. Mobile Video

The advent of readily available 3G networks worldwide has lead to an increased demand for mobile video services. Application marketplaces such as iTunes and Netflix, which predominantly maintain a purchase-to-download approach, have now also integrated video and TV-on-demand and streaming media onto their platforms. Alongside this, portable, accessible and, as of recently, full HD video cameras which are now a standard component of most smartphones, (such as Nokia’s N8 powerhouse which packs a 12 megapixel camera), allow for easy uploading and streaming of video content. Video blogging or vlogging has since become an accepted medium for feed and content aggregators across the globe.

5. Realtime Search

Search engine giant Google has taken realtime search to an authoritative level in 2010 by providing licensed realtime data streams from mainstream social networks such as Twitter and Facebook into its search results. The initial concerns with realtime search included relevance and also spam control –- filtering the informative live streams from the useless junk, particularly considering that end users would expect the same quality that traditional web searches provided. And this is where Google dominated.

By engaging the legitimacy of a valid tweet on Twitter or Facebook update status, Google’s tight-lipped algorithm delves into the popularity of these pocket-sized information nuggets and delivers.

6. Social Networks

In 2010 giants Facebook and Twitter have continued to dominate the social networking scene, with Twitter releasing its new iPad-like web layout and Facebook redesigning its user profile pages. Public awareness into social media has also increased this year with sites such as LinkedIn bridging the business/ social gap and merging company and user-based profiles together to the point that many company and recruitment entities are now actively engaging LinkedIn for resources.

Also, movies such as the box-office success The Social Network, which chronicles the rise of Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg, have added to the heightened public appeal. Major events, including the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, added to the euphoria, proving once and for all that social networks are above the misinterpretation of the web paradigm. Simply put, they’re big news. And they’re here to stay.

7. Cloud computing flies high

In the past year, cloud computing has really taken flight with the majority of internet sites’ architecture employing web services to consumers by converting their existing services to run on shared resources or “clouds”. Cloud-based services are low on costs and implementation and can be exploited in a variety of ways to develop an application or a solution that taps into the unlimited processing and storage power of vast data centres run by companies like Google or Amazon.

Isolated, system-specific and device and location-dependent applications are now a thing of the past as cloud computing provides the agility, security and readily available APIs across a scalable spectrum with reduced cost and maintenance leverages. For examples, read Technobuffalo’s great post on cloud computing.

8. HTML 5 sets the standard

Browsers such as Firefox and Chrome are already supporting HTML5, the evolution in web development. The addition of many new syntax features such as