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“There is no question that the threat landscape is evolving at a rapid pace… Furthermore, cyber-perpetrators will readily pounce on exploitable gaps in legacy security products… what Websense is accomplishing with its TRITON architecture is providing businesses with an extensible and adaptable mechanism to fight fire with fire” – Michael Suby, VP Research at Stratecast

Yesterday we announced a revolutionary new weapon for those looking to combat today’s most pressing and urgent security issues, while still taking full advantage of all that the internet has to offer.

Let’s face it: Zeus, Stuxnet, Aurora, and WikiLeaks prove that legacy security products are totally ineffective against modern threats. This is a wakeup call for the security industry. 

Consider these facts from a recent Miercom test:

Blue Coat is only 18.9 % effective at blocking modern malware threats, Cisco is only 12.8% effective. Blue Coat is only 29.4% effective at blocking dynamic content on the social Web. McAfee is only 19.8% effective.

And our own research shows that 20 percent of daily email threats are undetected by AV, UTMs, firewalls, and proxies. This is a failure of the security industry in general, and it cannot be solved with the latest DAT file.

In the meantime, while the rest of the industry is talking about concepts down the road, the real security paradigm shift occurred yesterday.

These predictions are based on Websense® Security Labs™ research. The team examined the reputation and behavioral analysis of Websense ThreatSeeker™ Network intelligence, which uses more than 50 million real-time data collecting systems to analyze one billion pieces of content daily. Together with the Websense Advanced Classification Engine (ACE), the ThreatSeeker Network provides Websense with unparalleled visibility into the state of content on the Internet and in email.

So in my previous two posts,, we talked a little about the ramifications and risks that this incident has brought to light within your business.  Now I’d like to speak on a practical level, things you can do to prevent just this sort of thing from happening to you.

It may come as a surprise to some that legacy controls aren't enough.  And, as this incident showed, it's not just email that data is being lost through: the Web is four times more likely, and USB is a large vector too.  However, a myopic approach to solving the problem can be dangerous. Shutting down access - a natural, gut reaction - will only create more obstacles and impede an organizations ability to operate at their peak capacity.

Another day and WikiLeaks is still top of mind. As a follow-up to yesterday’s blog post, the following is an excerpt from the WikiLeaks/Forbes Q&A interview:

Reporter: So do you have very high impact corporate stuff to release then?

Julian Assange: Yes, but maybe not as high impact…I mean, it could take down a bank or two.

Reporter: That sounds like high impact.

Julian Assange: But not as big an impact as the history of a whole war. But it depends on how you measure these things.

In this way Mr. Assange is correct, it depends on how you measure these things. To me, “taking down a bank or two” seems mammoth and potentially damaging to an already tenuous global economy. And if leaking documents can “take down” a multibillion dollar financial institution, what could the potential ramification for your business be?

It’s impossible to ignore the fallout of the most recent WikiLeaks release of classified U.S. Diplomatic cables. This week the group released a massive cache of more than 250,000 confidential documents. According to WikiLeaks, it’s the largest ever to be released publicly.

putting the issue of the morality and the legality of the leak aside, there were a number of revelations the security industry took note of, including:

- allegations that China's Poliburo ordered the famed Aurora attack on Google and other companies

- and that the leak caused the state department to rethink its data security policies, limiting access of writable USB and CD-ROMs in certain environments.

The impact to national security and U.S. diplomacy is potentially disastrous. But equally startling was the revelation that WikiLeaks servers contain confidential and material items from private business. First revealed in a Forbes cover story, WikiLeaks will soon publish tens of thousands of confidential documents from a major U.S. financial institution. 

Saying that you have the trust of your customers is one thing, proving it is entirely different, which is why Websense, a global leader in unified Web security, data security and email security solutions, is proud that it has been named a finalist in multiple categories in the 2011 SC Magazine Awards. Websense® Web Security Gateway was named a finalist in the Best Anti-Malware Gateway and Best Web Content Management Product categories in the Reader Trust Award category, which honors best-in-class security products and services, as determined by SC Magazine readers. Websense was also recognized in the Excellence Award category forBest Security Company, which acknowledges companies with superior security products that help customers tackle today's pressing security challenges.

Websense products were selected from hundreds of entries submitted in more than 31 technology categories. Finalists will be reviewed and winners will be chosen by the wide distribution of SC Magazine readers -- security and technology experts from large, medium, and small enterprises from all major vertical markets.

"Websense innovations illustrate the passion and creativity the IT security industry is taking to protect valuable assets and interests," says SC Magazine Editor-in-Chief   Illena Armstrong. "At the end of the day it's about protecting business, and Websense was named a finalist because of their contribution to this effort."

Read more here 

When I came to Websense® more than five years ago, data loss prevention (DLP) technology was early in its infancy. Organizations were just recognizing there was a problem, and vendors were over-marketing and under-delivering on solutions. We’ve come a long way since then, but while the technology and our understanding of the problem has advanced, many organizations still haven’t begun to tackle the problem. Why? Well, our research shows that many fear that DLP solutions are too complex and expensive to effectively implement. DLP is a challenging enough business problem; the technology you use should make the problem easier to solve, not more difficult. This is why we focused on maturing our DLP solution and unifying it within our TRITON™ architecture, making deployment fast and easy and providing value in minutes, not months. And that’s why we are so pleased to be recognized by Forrester Research, Inc. as a leader in the DLP market.

Forrester evaluated eight vendors, 94 criteria, and 3 themes, current offerings, strategy, and market presence. The report states that Websense was one of just two vendors who “led the pack" and was commended for “high levels of refinement, ease of use, and a deep bench of technology partners…” The independent research firm based its analysis of Websense Data Security Suite on several attributes…

For the 8^th consecutive year, Grupo Editorial M.A. and its business partners in Latin America presented the Channel Awards to acknowledge the importance of technology in Latin America. The awards, which were presented at a Gala Dinner at the Fountainbleau Hotel on Miami Beach last week, give well deserved recognition for excellence in technology products and services in the region.   

More than 400 products were evaluated in specific categories by a panel expert judges. Websense was delighted to have won the award in the Security category – Best Corporate Security solution.  The Websense Data Security Suite automatically blocks, quarantines, encrypts, audits and logs and notifies users when it detects policy violations.

Websense data security expertise features in the Websense TRITON solution, which offers users a powerful, integrated architecture of award-winningWeb, data and email security technologies  in a single, flexible content security solution that provides the best security for current threats and with a level of integratiSave, but don't Publishon that saves money.

You can try Websense award winning Data Security Suite in minutes with our revolutionary DLP for Download program.

Earlier this year, Websense® tapped Kurt Mills to become its Vice President of Worldwide Channel Sales. Recognized for his leadership, IT security expertise and channel experience, Kurt takes pride in getting the job done right the first time by taking the time to listen to the needs of the partner community and their end-users. In this Q&A, Kurt discusses the impact of his new global role at Websense and the channel initiatives currently underway that are making it simple and successful for channel partners to do business with Websense.

Q:  What is your channel experience & philosophy on partnership?

I have worked in the IT channel for more than two decades and have a strong reputation for getting the job done right the first time. It’s important to understand a company’s sales strategy before building one for the channel. The Websense channel and sales organization communicate, cooperate and participate well together which translates into our partners’ success. Our channel community recognizes this and in turn, they are investing in us.

Q:  Have you or will you be making any significant changes to the overall channel strategy and/or the Websense ChannelConnect Program?

I am not here to make radical changes – just the right ones. My team is focused on enhancing the business and making refinements where we need them. Our goal is to grow the business overall and make it that much easier for our partners to build profitable businesses around Websense solutions. We are accelerating our channel success across the board and taking Websense to the next level.

Year-after-year, Information Security Magazine and SearchSecurity.com readers recognize Websense’s security leadership and industry innovation.

Approximately 1,400 voters rated products in 14 different categories and selected Websense as a winner for its outstanding data loss prevention  and messaging security technology in the 2010 Information Security Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards!

Websense Data Security Suite was given exceptionally high marks for flexible policy definition/management, detecting and preventing unauthorized user activity, and comprehensive and flexible reports. The Websense Data Security Suite automatically blocks, quarantines, encrypts, audits and logs and notifies users when it detects policy violations.

Websense Email Security received good scores across the board. Readers noted the service's integration with existing messaging capabilities as its strongest point, followed closely by its spam detection and blocking, and its end-user transparency. Archiving support was also a stand-out feature for the software-as-a-service email security, and readers liked its reporting capabilities and ease of installation.

Security threats continue to evolve and be more advanced and persistent, leaving traditional security vendors struggling to keep up with the flood of new threats emerging every day. Rich Internet applications and the Web 2.0 platform have been combined with old-world-style attacks designed to evade legacy security controls and exploit coverage gaps. To address this new age of security threats, Websense has built the Websense® Advanced Classification Engine (ACE), part of the Websense TRITON™ Solution...

Today, in a Forbes Q&A article, Websense CIO Jim Haskin discusses the current threat landscape and how to minimize enterprise risk.

 As connectivity increases, businesses worldwide are battling to keep their data safe. Jim discusses the latest attack vectors, challenges associated with the insider threat and tips for safeguarding data. Below are two Q&A excerpts from the article:

“Is the number of attacks rising?

They're definitely going up. The attack vector has moved to the Web and the speed of change is phenomenal. A few years ago you'd identify a threat to create a signature that would get distributed to all your customers. Those signature-based threats don't last very long anymore. It may only be up for a day, or even an hour, and then there's a new threat out there. Speed of response to threats is absolutely critical.”

“What's the best practice here?

It still comes back to the right set of policies, education and tools to enforce those. But there's a world of difference between discussing it after the fact and catching it in the act. If you tell a manager there were certain violations in their department over the last month, it will generate some activity and might decrease 10% of the leaks. But if you're communicating to the employee that this action by you caused a security breach for the whole department, you'll get a completely different kind of response. There's a way to tie policy adherence to individual performance and learning. If a piece of data is being sent to somewhere it shouldn't go and it comes back to the individual, that keeps it from happening again.”

You can read more about the Websense Data Security Suite here. It accurately prevents data loss, secures business processes and manages compliance and risk by identifying confidential data, monitoring its use, discovering where it’s stored, and protecting it, on the network and at the endpoint.

Also, click here for details about the Websense ThreatSeeker Network, which 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. The network uses more than 50 million real-time data collecting systems to parse one billion pieces of content daily in real-time.

 The Wall Street Journal’s Sarah Needleman recently detailed that more small businesses are monitoring employee computer use to thwart cyberslacking and ensure proper security. As Web 2.0 sites (like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) continue to be vital business tools for research and networking – many organizations are struggling to find an ideal balance. While these sites are crucial, they can expose a business to serious malicious content and can be a HUGE drain on productivity.

Sarah’s article details Websense’s commitment to helping organizations ensure Internet use is safe, efficient and productive, giving each organization the right and flexibility to allow employees a safe level of access. 

With Websense Inc.'s software, business owners can control what time of day employees visit certain websites, such as limiting access to Facebook or Gmail to a designated lunch hour. Owners can also prevent workers from sending or receiving information from specific online destinations, and block offensive and malicious content—such as pornographic images, foul language and links to harmful websites—from appearing on workers' desktops.

In a recent Channel Insider piece, editor, Larry Walsh gets to the crux of this significant addition of Microsoft FCI with Websense Data Security Suite. Larry hits the nail on the head with what this technology means for those presently, and provides forward-looking thoughts on how Websense bold vision for the future will aid organizations in the days to come.

From the article: Integrating more deeply with Windows Server allows Websense to leverage the embedded file classification system for easier identification of sensitive data and simpler deployment and management of DLP capabilities. Websense also will leverage Microsoft’s rights management features for more granular enforcement of data protection policies.

Beyond access to Microsoft’s vast partner network and monumental install base, Websense is pinning its hopes to the Microsoft cloud vision. As Microsoft pushes more applications and capabilities into the cloud, Websense sees an opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with Microsoft as a cloud-based security option.

Ray Kruck, Websense’s senior director of business development, said in a conversation with me that “we need to make our solutions accessible to those in the cloud and think about how to deliver our products for customers in the cloud.”

It’s a bold vision, considering no security vendor is currently delivering DLP in the cloud.

You can read about the Websense/Microsoft team-up to protect data here and try out Websense revolutionary DLP for Download here, which can get your organizaton up and running and your data protected in  minutes rather than hours.

The full text of Larry's article appears here.

Websense continues to provide game-changing updates to our DLP technology, making it even more robust and easier for organizations to deploy and take advantage of this critical technology.

You may have read about our new DLP for Download program, the Websense® industry leadingData Security Suite that can be downloaded , installed and deployed in a matter of minutes from Websense.com.For the first time ever, Websense DLP for Download makes data loss prevention available without a massive investment in time, resources and cost.

This week we also announced Websense partnership with Microsoft to integrate Websense Data Loss Prevention with Microsoft  File Classification Infrastructure (FCI) technology. The integrated technology enables automatic identification, classification, and remediation of sensitive data with centrally managed security policies. Working in tandem, DLP iand FCI  tells adminstators where data is, where it is going and can apply digital rights management toS protect the actual content, even after it has left an organization, based on permissions of who is allowed access to the content.  The tight integration enables customers to rapidly deploy a more effective data protection solution while meeting the growing regulatory and security requirements for advanced data classification and application of security controls.

 But of course, you don't have to take our word for it. Click on any of the feature stories below to better understand what these critical initiatives mean for the broader security industry:

Unprecedented rapid deployment available today at Websense.com;  removes DLP adoption barriers; increases time to effectiveness and shrinks DLP deployment time to a matter of minutes

SAN DIEGO, July 8, 2010 - Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN), a global leader in unified Web, data and email security solutions, today announced the availability of “DLP for Download,” the Websense® industry leading Data Security Suite that can be downloaded , installed and deployed in a matter of minutes from Websense.com.

Even though data breaches cost companies millions of dollars, DLP solutions have not been broadly adopted because they have been extremely complex to install.  These traditional first-generation solutions take months and hundreds of hours to deploy. Websense changes all of that with DLP for Download, which provides industry-leading, enterprise-class protection that can be downloaded and installed in just 30 minutes. With dramatically faster time-to-implementation and drastically lower total cost of ownership, this critical technology is finally ready for mass adoption in enterprises and midsize businesses....