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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.
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.
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.
To read the full report, click here. For a free social media acceptable use policy kit, click 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.
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 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.
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.
Social media is increasingly playing a larger role in business. But are companies fully prepared to handle the accompanying security risks? Bloomberg recently published an article on a Websense and Ponemon global study, and it turns out that most companies aren’t very well-equipped to deal with the increase in computer attacks that come hand-in-hand with an increase in social media usage. Bloomberg notes that out of 4,640 organizations surveyed by Websense and Ponemon, more than half said that virus and malware attacks grew as a direct result of employees using social networks. 29 percent of those respondents said the attacks rose by more than 50 percent. Despite noticing this major increase, only 35 percent of IT security professionals from these organizations said that they had an acceptable use policy for social media at work. Of those, only 35 percent enforce it. The viruses and malicious attacks use a simple, yet effective, approach to attract victims. Websense Senior Security Research Manager Patrik Runald is quoted on how they work: “Most attacks are socially engineered driven,” said Patrik Runald, a researcher at San Diego-based Websense. Users may be enticed to click on a video, for example, “which takes you to a page off of Facebook, where they trick you into downloading something.” The article also cites additional statistics from the Websense report, which you can download here. Read a blog post on the study by Tom Clare, Senior Director of Product Marketing here. Need an example of a social media acceptable use policy for your organization? Get it for free here.
Social media is increasingly playing a larger role in business. But are companies fully prepared to handle the accompanying security risks? Bloomberg recently published an article on a Websense and Ponemon global study, and it turns out that most companies aren’t very well-equipped to deal with the increase in computer attacks that come hand-in-hand with an increase in social media usage.
Bloomberg notes that out of 4,640 organizations surveyed by Websense and Ponemon, more than half said that virus and malware attacks grew as a direct result of employees using social networks. 29 percent of those respondents said the attacks rose by more than 50 percent. Despite noticing this major increase, only 35 percent of IT security professionals from these organizations said that they had an acceptable use policy for social media at work. Of those, only 35 percent enforce it.
The viruses and malicious attacks use a simple, yet effective, approach to attract victims. Websense Senior Security Research Manager Patrik Runald is quoted on how they work:
“Most attacks are socially engineered driven,” said Patrik Runald, a researcher at San Diego-based Websense. Users may be enticed to click on a video, for example, “which takes you to a page off of Facebook, where they trick you into downloading something.”
The article also cites additional statistics from the Websense report, which you can download here.
Read a blog post on the study by Tom Clare, Senior Director of Product Marketing here.
Need an example of a social media acceptable use policy for your organization? Get it for free here.
While IT professionals acknowledge that social media holds benefits for the enterprise, many have expressed concern that they lack the tools to deal with the associated risks. eWeek recently published an article featuring the findings from Websense and Ponemon’s “Global Survey on Social Media Risks.”
eWeek highlights that the biggest risks came from employees downloading malicious apps. 52 percent of respondents said that their companies experienced an increase in viruses and malware attacks as a direct result of employees using social media.
While organizations consider social media a positive way to encourage collaboration and build relationships, 65 percent of respondents were unsure if their organization had an acceptable use policy for social media, or said that it was not enforced.
It is important for organizations to understand the security risks associated with social media. Need an example of a social media acceptable use policy for your organization? Get it for free here.
Check out an infographic on social media security risks here.
Today, InfoSecurity Magazine released an article featuring Websense® customer Al Gore of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on how he successfully enables social media in his organization with a web security gateway solution from Websense. According to a recent Websense poll of more than 275 security professionals, more than 45 percent restrict social media properties out of concern for security. The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which provides thousands of performances by the greatest artists from across America and around the globe, was feeling the pressure to embrace the world of social media. For example, the Kennedy Center’s marketing department was looking to utilize Facebook as a platform to build their brand. And, directors were looking to use YouTube as a means to view performances and make casting decisions. However, this demand had to be carefully weighed with the security challenges at the institution. In this article, Gore describes how he was able to meet the social media demands of the Kennedy Center, while protecting against security threats. For example, with an open social media model, the Kennedy Center experienced an influx of viruses and infections on their computers that bypassed their anti-virus products. As the Director of IT Operations, Gore found that about 80% of the 600 PCs in his IT environment required maintenance due to infections every year. To solve this security dilemma and keep their open social media policy, Gore implemented a web security gateway solution from Websense. Below are excerpts from the Infosecurity Magazine article that highlight the value that the Websense Web Security Gateway brings to Gore’s organization: Gore explains that the technology put in place allows access to necessary social media sites “without headaches” by monitoring, in real-time, for policy violations and potentially malicious scripts. Therefore, it provides access to the sites, but still monitors activities once the user has logged in. Putting this type of solution in place, he continued, means that his IT department does not have to manage policy from day to day. “I have an enterprise background with different companies, Gore shares, “but [the Center] is the first organization I have been with that allows access to nearly every site while web browsing”. It may seem like a lawless environment, he adds, but that is far from the case. Working quietly in the background is the web gateway security solution. The results of the new approach have been clear: a decrease in helpdesk call volume, fewer alerts, and less time spent with virus/infection issues. And a year and a half after implementing a technology solution, Gore cannot recall any new infections within the Center’s IT environment. Read more about the Websense Web Security Gateway here. Struggling to find a way to enable social media in the workplace? Check out our Social Media Acceptable Use Policy here. Need an immediate way to secure you and your followers against threats that target social media? Check out Defensio here.
Today, InfoSecurity Magazine released an article featuring Websense® customer Al Gore of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on how he successfully enables social media in his organization with a web security gateway solution from Websense.
According to a recent Websense poll of more than 275 security professionals, more than 45 percent restrict social media properties out of concern for security.
The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, which provides thousands of performances by the greatest artists from across America and around the globe, was feeling the pressure to embrace the world of social media. For example, the Kennedy Center’s marketing department was looking to utilize Facebook as a platform to build their brand. And, directors were looking to use YouTube as a means to view performances and make casting decisions. However, this demand had to be carefully weighed with the security challenges at the institution. In this article, Gore describes how he was able to meet the social media demands of the Kennedy Center, while protecting against security threats.
For example, with an open social media model, the Kennedy Center experienced an influx of viruses and infections on their computers that bypassed their anti-virus products. As the Director of IT Operations, Gore found that about 80% of the 600 PCs in his IT environment required maintenance due to infections every year. To solve this security dilemma and keep their open social media policy, Gore implemented a web security gateway solution from Websense. Below are excerpts from the Infosecurity Magazine article that highlight the value that the Websense Web Security Gateway brings to Gore’s organization:
Gore explains that the technology put in place allows access to necessary social media sites “without headaches” by monitoring, in real-time, for policy violations and potentially malicious scripts. Therefore, it provides access to the sites, but still monitors activities once the user has logged in.
Putting this type of solution in place, he continued, means that his IT department does not have to manage policy from day to day. “I have an enterprise background with different companies, Gore shares, “but [the Center] is the first organization I have been with that allows access to nearly every site while web browsing”. It may seem like a lawless environment, he adds, but that is far from the case. Working quietly in the background is the web gateway security solution.
The results of the new approach have been clear: a decrease in helpdesk call volume, fewer alerts, and less time spent with virus/infection issues. And a year and a half after implementing a technology solution, Gore cannot recall any new infections within the Center’s IT environment.
Read more about the Websense Web Security Gateway here.
Struggling to find a way to enable social media in the workplace? Check out our Social Media Acceptable Use Policy here.
Need an immediate way to secure you and your followers against threats that target social media? Check out Defensio here.
In a recent blog post on CNET, Elinor Mills warns readers of how a major news event like Osama bin Laden’s death has provided an avenue of profit for online scammers. Within hours of the first breaking news, scams and malicious links on Facebook began to rear their ugly heads alongside malware that popped up on sites that were primed and optimized to be in web searches related to bin Laden’s death.
Mills highlights Websense® Security Labs™ research that was conducted on recent attacks surrounding bin Laden’s death. The Labs discovered that a Pakistan-based tweeter who was live-tweeting the U.S. raid garnered over 60,000 followers and as a result of his surge in popularity, found his blog compromised by malicious attacks.
Patrik Runald, senior manager of security research at Websense Security Labs was quoted in the article:
“Visitors to the blog would not immediately have noticed anything as the malware was installed as a drive-by download without the visitor having to do anything.”
Hm. Does this strike you as reminiscent of Lizamoon just earlier last month? Remember, even the most popular sites can fall to malicious attacks at any time. Huge news like the bin Laden death have only made it easier for hackers to find their way to high-traffic sites that may not have the proper protection from modern security threats.
Stay cautious when browsing the web for information, particularly when the topic is a big one. It’s best to know before you go – check out AceInsight.com to make sure that you’re not putting you or your organization’s information at risk.
In a new post on All Things Digital, writer Arik Hesseldahl bemoans the cyber consequences of tweeting while witnessing historical events. Hesseldahl refers to the unfortunate hacked site of Sohaid Atha, who live-tweeted descriptions of the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden without even really knowing what was going on. While it wasn’t a specific individual who launched the attack, an automated process kicked in as a result of locating a surge in traffic to Atha’s site. Hesseldahl recounts his interview with Patrik Runald, Websense® Security Labs™ Senior Manager. “ Patrik Runald, a Websense security researcher, said that sometime overnight, the increase in attention on Atha’s Twitter feed, which contains a link to his blog, R____l.com, was compromised and was as of this morning serving up malware.” In addition to this attack, there’s some malvertising appearing on Facebook in regards to Osama bin Laden’s death, promising bogus footage of his death. Users are warned to stay away from clicking on these links. Want to find a way to protect yourself on Facebook? Scan it with Defensio.
In a new post on All Things Digital, writer Arik Hesseldahl bemoans the cyber consequences of tweeting while witnessing historical events. Hesseldahl refers to the unfortunate hacked site of Sohaid Atha, who live-tweeted descriptions of the US raid that killed Osama bin Laden without even really knowing what was going on. While it wasn’t a specific individual who launched the attack, an automated process kicked in as a result of locating a surge in traffic to Atha’s site.
Hesseldahl recounts his interview with Patrik Runald, Websense® Security Labs™ Senior Manager.
“ Patrik Runald, a Websense security researcher, said that sometime overnight, the increase in attention on Atha’s Twitter feed, which contains a link to his blog, R____l.com, was compromised and was as of this morning serving up malware.”
In addition to this attack, there’s some malvertising appearing on Facebook in regards to Osama bin Laden’s death, promising bogus footage of his death. Users are warned to stay away from clicking on these links. Want to find a way to protect yourself on Facebook? Scan it with Defensio.
