By Richard Moulds

High profile data breaches and the ever-increasing number of government and industry specific compliance regulations have escalated data security from an IT issue to a C-level priority.

The consequences of not adequately protecting data could result in a failure to meet compliance mandates or exposure to the risks of data loss or theft – all of which can cause monetary losses and negative publicity. In the face of these risks, one thing is clear: data security is a pressing issue for every enterprise.

By Peter Ettinger

In a world where counterfeiting is a $500 billion a year problem, there is little thought given to dangers that exist within enterprise-based systems. To most, counterfeiting is associated with currency or consumer goods. But to those people who manage the systems, the protection of documents once they are printed on the desktop has taken on new importance.

In industries throughout the world the protection and security of the printed version of electronically distributed data is as important, if not more important than the protection and security of the initial electronic data itself. The concern surrounding protection of these distributed documents has become so great that web sites like www.Authenticate-360.com are being developed with the goal of educating industries on counterfeiting, its impact on global finance, as well as methods of prevention.

By Pat Hanavan

Users are struggling with the need for instant, on-demand data recovery while data volume is rising 40 to 50 percent each year.  Businesses seek efficiency, a need not met by traditional tape backup, to fill backup and recovery needs.

When deciding between data protection options, business leaders need to understand the differences of each backup system, which include traditional tape-based backups, traditional disk-based backups, and continuous disk-based backups.

The following article is intended to provide businesses with an introduction of these data protection approaches as well as best practices for data center management through the use of continuous data protection (CDP), and an outline of how, in this new age of fast access, 24 X 7 uptime, and new compliance regulations, CDP can play an important role in reaching business and regulatory goals.

Last Friday a SecureWorks researcher reported that they had discovered a new variant of the Prg Trojan infecting approximately 46,000 users of online job sites.

Since then, Symantec released information that Monster.com unknowingly became an agent to distributing Trojan.Monstres through the ads served on their Web site. According to Symantec spokesperson, Dave Cole, director of Security Response for Symantec, “This Trojan is different from the typical Trojans targeting banks, PayPal, etc. It uses a unique approach in that it harvests information obtained from Monster.com. We are working with Monster to eliminate this threat; they have already shut down many of the vulnerable access logins.”

The slow and relentless march to gain control over the information assets of a corporation…enabling users to more efficiently collaborate and share information…facilitating records management principles to the world of electronic data…

Over the last few years, we’ve seen the emergence of enterprise-class content management and e-mail archiving as the grand solution to controlling the ever-burgeoning information explosion.

Content management and e-mail archiving applications have clear and compelling value propositions for consolidating data management practices, optimizing storage and facilitating more effective use of information assets. In many cases, such tools also enable records and information management, as well as enhanced compliance and risk management. But are they the panacea for legal discovery readiness?

It can be surprisingly easy to pull sensitive data such as thousands of names and social security numbers off laptops that are thought to be encrypted and secure. Recent data leakages (TSA, TJ MAXX) prove embarrassing and costly, and illustrate the necessity for robust security solutions.  IT Security research and advisory leader Trusted Strategies put the most prevalent hard disk data protection solutions to the test--and show how easy it is to crack frequently used technologies and get to valuable secrets.

In Part One of a three-part series, we’ll dive into hard disk password protection and the ease with which it can be penetrated. The second installment will focus on software-based full drive encryption -- an enticing solution that carries some risk. Lastly, we’ll focus on next-generation encrypting hard drives, which provide the most secure solution with the least impact to performance and productivity.

Can your computer keep a secret?

Why all laptop data protection methods are NOT created equal