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subject: Are There Security Plugs in Your Messaging System? [print this page]

Are There Security Plugs in Your Messaging System?

Most businesspeople are aware of the many ways email security can be breached.

And for the most part, commercial enterprises have some sort of server-level anti-

spam policies in place. But is this enough to protect your network from malware

attack?

New Forms of Compromise

There are a couple new trends that will affect how companies fight malware that

compromises their databases in the upcoming year.

For one, file security should be a main concern. Sarbanes-Oxley requires that any

firm capturing sensitive data must take certain measures to ensure the safety of

that data. But the bill only addresses network-level security of database records

not email attachments. How many of your employees share files with clients and

vendors? Could the transportation of these attachments pose a security threat?

The second concern that may be a big threat quite soon is Facebook's unveiling

of their Messages system. This service combines email, SMS and instant

messaging for Facebook users. The problem is that many users allow a number

of applications to access their information and that same information could be

more easily accessed by hackers who will no doubt quickly figure out how to break

into the messaging feature of this social media site. It also opens the door for new

spamming and phishing schemes.

Add to that the fact that Facebook is going to store archives of member

communication in a database and the company has already been under attack

by many in the antivirus industry, such as Sophos, for its lax security and privacy

controls.

How many of your employees log onto Facebook while at work? Chances are, it's

a large number, and this could present a very large threat to your company's

network security.

Best Practices to Ensure Email Security

An increasingly popular trend of many firms is to put their applications on a cloud.

It's tougher for hackers to penetrate the security measures provided by a cloud

infrastructure typically much more effective than network-level anti-virus and

firewalls.

If you do not opt for cloud-based applications, then it is vital to keep your security

software and policies up-to-date. Your mail server needs to have strong anti-spam

and antivirus protection layers in place and they need to apply to incoming,

outgoing, and relayed email messages.

Advise your employees to take a closer look at the applications linked to their

Facebook profile and encourage them to be circumspect about the information

shared with their contacts. They should never use a corporate email address to set

up a Facebook profile and should never allow any applications to access the address

book associated with this account.

Now perhaps more than ever email security is an important issue to address. As the

world becomes more and more dependent on electronic communications, there are

more and more hackers busily working on developing the next wave of malware.

Always keep your antivirus software updated and consider moving to cloud-based

applications that provide superior security and privacy controls.

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