Social Media Center

Websense has continued its worldwide winning streak at the 2012 SC Magazine Awards Europe. Earlier this year Websense won three awards in the SC Magazine Awards US 2012. And last week, Websense won Best Security Management for Websense Web Security Gateway Anywhere.

The SC Awards Europe are widely recognized as the most coveted and prestigious awards for the European information security industry. This year’s organizers reported that they received a record number of entries this year.

Winning the Best Security Management Award recognizes the power and effectiveness of Websense solutions in an ever-changing world with more social networks, an increasingly mobile workforce, and sophisticated modern malware.

“Organisations need to be able to identify sensitive information and make sure it remains safe,” commented Carl Leonard, senior manager at Websense Security Labs. “Accidents happen, so protecting confidential data is essential if you don’t want to risk cybercriminals running away it…”

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/london-marathon-faces-ico-investigation-74666

Carl Leonard, senior manager at Websense Security Labs told The INQUIRER, "Data is everywhere and its value is growing exponentially with huge volumes of new content being created and shared every second. As organisations manage this data, the challenge is that much of it is sensitive and theft is a major concern…”

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2169808/london-marathon-web-site-leaks-runners-personal-details

“Websense Security Labs' 2012 Threat Report said that while exploit kits and advanced methods to attack Windows systems and the software that reside on this platform exist against the large surface area, new rogue anti-virus dropper files are surfacing for Mac OS as it continues to increase in popularity…”

http://www.scmagazineuk.com/detection-of-mac-malware-to-expand-as-realities-of-mobile-malware-are-laid-bare/article/237392/

“Websense has estimated the number of infected WordPress sites to be 30,000, with others putting the number as high as 100,000 but what matters is that the overwhelming majority - 85 percent - were based in the US…”

 http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/.../infected_wordpress_blogs_blamed for_mac_flashback_trojan.html

 “Traditional defenses just aren't working any more,” said Charles Renert, vice president of research and development for Websense. “Organizations need real-time defenses with multiple detection points that deeply analyze both the inbound content of each website and email as well as the outbound transmission of sensitive data…”

http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/25291/websense-report-discusses-the-lifecycle-of-an-advanced-attack

Once again, Websense has been recognized for three awards at the annual SC Magazine Awards. This year, we won all three for:

-          Best Enterprise Security Solution

-          Reader’s Trust Award for Websense Web Security Gateway

-          Best Corporate Security Blog

It is great to win in three different categories and to be recognized for exceptional enterprise protection and research of advanced attacks and evolving threats.

Websense Web Security Gateway Anywhere won the award for Best Enterprise Security Solution in the U.S. Excellence Award category and the award for Best Web Content Management Solution in the U.S. Reader’s Trust category. And the Websense Security Labs Blog won the award for Best Corporate Security Blog in the U.S. Social Media Award category. The awards were presented on February 28, 2012 at the SC Magazine Awards Gala in San Francisco.

The product awards are a testament to the foundations that allow us to claim that nobody in the world stops more threats:

-          The research and prevention expertise of the Websense Labs

-          ACE (the Websense Advanced Classification Engine), along with the ThreatSeeker Network

-          The TRITON architecture that products like Websense Web Security Gateway (along with email, mobile, and DLP solutions) are built upon.

Websense won by demonstrating the effectiveness against advanced malware of its real-time content analysis and unified security intelligence to a hand-picked expert panel of judges and the 2012 Reader Trust Voting Panel. 

The winner of this blogging category was determined by online votes from the general public, demonstrating that the Websense Security Labs blog is a trusted source for up-to-date and useful information on the latest outbreaks, threats, and other valuable security topics.

2011 was a crazy year filled with many high profile data breaches, and it looks like 2012 is going to be filled with even more surprises from the bad guys.  The Times of India recently published an article featuring the Websense Security Labs’ Predictions for 2012, focusing on an increase in threats to social media sites and mobile phones.

The article highlights how the social media identity of users will prove to be more valuable to cybercriminals than their credit card information, and that the primary blended attack method used in most advanced attacks will go through social media “friends,” mobile devices and the cloud. Websense researchers have already seen attacks that used the chat functionality of a compromised social network to target individuals, and expect to see more in the next year.

Websense Chief Technology Officer Dan Hubbard is quoted: "The most advanced criminals are going to ride the waves of personal devices, personal social media use, and personal web activities of people to create more advanced, social engineering attacks to get in. Many of the business and government attacks in the coming year won't necessarily be about how complex the code is, but how well they can convincingly lure unsuspecting victims to click

The Times also details other predictions from the Websense Security Labs, such as how cybercriminals will take advantage of news surrounding the major events like the London Olympics and US Presidential Elections by designing malicious sites to look like legitimate news services.

Find out how to protect your organization from next year’s threats here.

Watch a video on the Websense Security Labs predictions for 2012 here.

Download the full report here.

There has been a lot of talk about the improper use of technology for the suppression of rights in different countries. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently published an article featuring Websense for stepping up and issuing a clear human rights policy as an example for other vendors.

In the article, the EFF applauds Websense for its anti-censorship policy and for calling out a challenge to other American technology vendors to join in prohibiting repressive regimes from using US technology to prevent open communications. The EFF quotes Websense for announcing its refusal to engage in a transaction that is similar to what Blue Coat says occurred with the Syrian government.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

Websense is pointing to the technology sector in the direction of promoting freedom; BlueCoat represents the aiding oppressors. The choice for other tech companies is clear, and kudos to Websense for leading the way.

To read the Websense statement on the improper use of technology for censorship and in violation of trade sanctions, click here.

Social media has increasingly become an integral part of the workplace, but are organizations fully prepared to deal with the associated security risks? DataQuest India published an article today featuring a global survey conducted by Websense and the Ponemon Institute on social media risks. 4,640 IT and IT security practitioners were surveyed in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, the UK and the United States.

The article highlights major findings from the report in some informational charts. DataQuest emphasizes the Websense finding that while 85 percent of respondents said that it is acceptable to use social networking within the company, 64 percent of respondents also considered it a serious security threat to the organization. The article also emphasizes that despite majority perception of the significant risk of social media, 39 percent said that they do not have any social media policies to inform employees about acceptable use of social media in the workplace.

 Websense Senior Director of Product Marketing Tom Clare is quoted in the article:

 “Blocking or ignoring the social media business opportunity just isn’t an option… social media is the new communication platform being fueled by the cloud and mobile technologies that employees are bringing to the workplace.” – Tom Clare

Surendra Singh, regional spokesperson for Websense, is also quoted. He calls for organizations to conduct a risk assessment to understand what practices may be putting organizations at risk and create awareness among employees about the impact of social media usage in the workplace.

Websense Senior Director of Product Marketing Tom Clare is quoted in the article:

 “Blocking or ignoring the social media business opportunity just isn’t an option… social media is the new communication platform being fueled by the cloud and mobile technologies that employees are bringing to the workplace.” – Tom Clare

Surendra Singh, regional spokesperson for Websense, is also quoted. He calls for organizations to conduct a risk assessment to understand what practices may be putting organizations at risk and create awareness among employees about the impact of social media usage in the workplace.

To read the full report, click here. For a free social media acceptable use policy kit, click here.

Darn – you typed “Faecbook” instead of “Facebook” again… and sneaky scammers are taking advantage of your misspellings online. Businessweek recently wrote an article featuring Websense on the rise of “typosquatters,” the bad guys who buy domain names spelled similarly to those of real companies to take advantage of fat-fingered users.

Businessweek outlines an extensive history of typosquatting, and features Websense research on the subject. The Websense Security Labs are quoted for the statistic that more than 62 percent of the active domain names based on common misspellings of Facebook (and not owned by Facebook led to scams or malicious sites).

Typosquatting is a cheap way to get a lot of traffic, and poses major risks to corporate confidential information. Read more from the Security Labs blog on typosquatting here. 

Find out how to protect your organization from security threats like typosquatting here.

With over 800 million active users, Facebook is a prime target for cybercrooks armed with sneaky scams and malicious links – finding a way to secure a realm where over a billion links are shared every day is no simple task. Fast Company just published an article announcing that Facebook has taken a major step forward to become a safer place by entering a formal partnership with Websense®.

In the article, Fast Company explains that while Facebook has enlisted in help from individuals in the past to report bugs as part of a “bounty” program, these security experts were looking for systemic snags, not necessarily spam or phishing issues. Websense, on the other hand, provides a higher level of security with the Websense ThreatSeeker® Cloud, where every external link shared on Facebook is scanned for viruses and malware in real-time. This opens the door for businesses who may have been hesitant in using Facebook in the past due to security issues.

Below is an excerpt from the article:

Charles Renert, senior director of security research for Websense, told Fast Company:

"Over 60% of the customers we surveyed allow access to social networks. But in the next year or two, it's going to to be in the 90s. [When businesses consider using Facebook more] this added data security layer is going to be crucial to allow broader access to their employees."

Unlike threats on email servers, or an individual's computer, where a user would need to download something to be attacked, spam threats on Facebook are shapeshifters. They can quickly spread from user to user via shares, and can exist stealthily for a very short time before disappearing. This makes larger corporations wary of using the service. They don't want to expose their Facebook followers, or employees who access Facebook from work, to any security problems.

One of Websense's recent clients, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, contracted the security company specifically so that employees could continue to use social networks at work, while keeping their machines risk-free.

Renert explains: "The kinds of attacks we're talking about here are socially engineered--they might be videos, or a status update, or a link in a web-chat, that are designed to draw you in and type in a password. The degree of social engineering is higher [than with email]."

Find out how to safely integrate social media into your business with our free Social Media Acceptable Use Policy Toolkit here.

Watch a video where Websense CTO Dan Hubbard explains the Facebook partnership further here.

Read the press release announcing the partnership here.

Facebook has become a hotbed for viral scams with the bad guys often tricking Facebook users to click on devilishly enticing (malicious) links. MSNBC just published an article highlighting how the world’s largest social network has taken a major step forward in its spam defenses by partnering with Websense®, which will help protect and inform Facebook users.

The article features the Websense infographic that describes how Websense ThreatSeeker® Cloud Technology and ACE works to protect users, and also quotes Websense CTO Dan Hubbard:

 "Starting today, Websense technology will add to Facebook's existing protections to stop users from clicking on links without knowing the trustworthiness of the destination… When a Facebook user clicks on a link it will be checked against the Websense database. If Websense determines the link is malicious, the user will see a page that offers the choice to continue at their own risk, return to the previous screen or get more information on why it was flagged as suspicious." – Dan Hubbard, CTO, Websense, Inc.

Users are encouraged to avoid clicking on links categorized by Websense as unsafe.  If a user succumbs to accepting a malicious third-party app, he will most likely find himself spamming all of his friends with the same bad link and/or potentially sending malware to friends and colleagues.

Read more about the partnership from CTO Dan Hubbard in his blog post here.

Read the press release announcing the partnership here.

Facebook just rolled out increased protections to 800 million users… using Websense® security technology. Tech Crunch recently published an article featuring Facebook’s decision to partner with Websense in order to protect its users from malicious content. Now, when a Facebook user clicks on a link, Facebook will run the link through Websense to determine whether or not it’s free of malware. If the link is unsafe, a message warns the user that the link is potentially harmful and suggests returning to the previous page.

Tech Crunch highlights how this process is powered by Websense’s ThreatSeeker®Cloud Technology, which is a classification and malware identification platform. Using Websense’s proprietary technology known as the “Advanced Classification Engine,” or ACE, Websense is capable of analyzing threats in real-time in order to block known malware sites in addition to ones that the system has never seen before.

This is one of the many things Facebook is doing to keep itself free of malware, but call us prejudiced, we say its one of the smartest things they’ve done.

Read more about the partnership from CTO Dan Hubbard in his blog post here.

Read the press release announcing the partnership here.