Monday, January 10, 2011

Are You Equipped to Deal with Sophisticated Hacking?


The hacker community has grown over the years despite all protective and preventive measures taken by organizations. The current generation of hackers can execute security attacks ranging from the simplest to the most complex. They can steal passwords and account numbers from laptops and personal PCs, infiltrate company networks and dig out trade secrets, support terrorist networks and induce attacks, destroy satellite systems of the neighboring countries, or cause financial turbulence and create economic pandemonium for political gains.

While this is a matter of great concern giving organizations sleepless nights and unending worries, a number of hacking activities go unreported as companies fear negative publicity. Institutions like Heartland Payment Systems and Microsoft have been victims of such hacking activities. Also, security lapses in the websites of British Royal Navy, the US Army and NASA were exploited by hackers. Monster.com, an online recruitment agency was also hacked twice to extract details from member databases. Similarly, in 2008 Facebook users suffered in the hands of a virus named Koobface. These hackers use highly advanced methods, which makes it very easy for them to get into company systems and create havoc. They employ sophisticated programs to support their skill and knowledge. This results in permanent and irrecoverable damage to companies.

With so much of ongoing hacking, every company has to assess whether they are competent enough to battle the onslaught of hackers? Are IT managers in every company ensuring that compliance metrics are updated and in sync with the business goals? To ensure efficient IT compliance, companies need a system that can help identify risks that make the existing environment vulnerable. It is also very important to develop a clear understanding of security issues to develop a suitable security strategy. And the system also has to provide solutions that restrict possibilities of hacking and guarantee safety of critical assets.

A competent system that can predict and analyze threat management with continuous real-time monitoring is therefore the need of the hour. And only capable compliance management software can help achieve this. Such software can perform a synchronized, streamlined and automated procedure and employ best practices with timely measures and prompt responses. It can provide updated reports which help evaluate the existing compliance status, and prepare organizations for unforeseen incidents.

An outdated compliance management system therefore may not serve the purpose anymore. In an era of industrialized hacking, where hackers employ more sophisticated tools, an equally, if not more sophisticated security system is a must. By using advanced compliance management software, organizations can be saved from becoming victims to unforeseen, innovative hacking attacks.

Read More On:
·         IT risk management
·         Intrusion detection
·         Incident management

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