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RB | June 2, 2015

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Millennials Riskiest With Your Data

Around half of the workforce will be millennials by 2020, but today they represent a bigger threat to your data. A recent report by endpoint security and management products producer Absolute Software (ABT) concludes that millennials take the most risks with your data. The report says they pose a greater risk to corporate data security than other user demographics.

The findings between generational mobile security behaviors are likely to be counter-intuitive to many who assume younger generations to be more knowledgeable and more aware of security threats in mobile tech use than older generations according to FierceBigData. Stephen Midgley, VP of Global Marketing at Absolute Software said;

We conducted this survey with the intention of helping enterprises better understand the current attitudes that employees have towards data security and privacy.

The presser from Absolute Software says that:

64% of millennials use their employer-owned device for personal use, as opposed to 37% of baby boomers
50% of respondents believe that security is not their responsibility
35% of millennials change their default settings, compared to 8% of baby boomers
27% of millennials access “Not Safe For Work“ content, compared with only 5% of baby boomers
25% of millennials believe they compromise IT security, compared with only 5% of baby boomers

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The author concludes that these findings underscore why data trumps instinct or gut feeling given its counter-intuitive results. Corporate hiring and training programs and policies often focus on what companies think of different worker demographics rather than on how those workers actually work. Armed with useful data such as this, hiring and training practices can be better aligned with the realities.

Millennial’s are most vulnerable to hacks and cyber attacks, research suggests (businessinsider.com)

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 2015, Absolute Software, Baby boomer, BYOD, Computer security, Data Security, Endpoint security, Generation Y, Security, Social media

RB | May 26, 2015

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Mobile Malware FUD?

Just last week, I wondered out loud from my Bach Seat if all the hype around mobile malware was real or just more FUD. Looks like I am not alone, TechCo recently asked a similar question, “Are We Overstating the Threats from Mobile Devices?”

The author cites several recent reports that back up the claim that the actual mobile threats that mobile devices introduce into the enterprise are overstated. The data indicates that the mobile malware threat is statistically small and has even decreased since 2012.

• A McAfee report shows out of all the malware now out there, only 1.9% of it is mobile malware. The author equates the mobile threat to 4 million / 195 million McAfee knows about.
• Another report (PDF) from Verizon (VZ) shows even lower numbers, with only 0.03 percent of smartphones being infected with what is called “higher grade malicious code.”
• But some numbers go even lower than that. Damballa, a mobile security vendor that monitors roughly half of mobile data traffic, recently released a report that claims you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than by mobile malware. Dramballa found only 9,688 smartphones out of more than 150 million showed signs of malware infection. If you do the math, that comes out to an infection rate of 0.0064 percent.

Even more interesting is that despite the increase in mobile devices, Damballa found the infection rate had declined by half compared to 2012.

These reports may show mobile threats aren’t as big of a problem as previously thought, but the author asks, why the numbers are so low at all. After all, cybercriminals like to target new platforms and exploit security weaknesses. Why do they seem to be avoiding mobile devices?

The truth of the matter is that mobile users tend to get their apps from high-quality app stores. The stores from Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) work to filter out suspicious apps. If malware is found in apps after they’ve already been on the market for a while, app stores can also execute a kill switch, which takes the app off the store and the devices where they were downloaded. This limits malware’s ability to spread.

The article concludes that companies that adopt BYOD should just ignore BYOD security; they just don’t have to go all-out as many businesses have done. Most mobile security experts say a mobile device management system remains a good investment to make sure mobile devices are handled appropriately. MDM systems also allow an organization to remotely wipe devices, thus keeping sensitive data safe in the event a device is lost or stolen. But malware really isn’t a factor in those cases, so the overall message from these recent reports is that getting worked up over mobile threats is not necessary. A company can still gain all the benefits of BYOD without having to worry incessantly over what they’re doing to protect every device that connects to their network.

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What do you think?

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Your BYOD implementation checklist (powermore.dell.com)

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 2015, AAPL, Android, Anti-Virus, Apple, BYOD, Damballa, FUD, GOOG, Google, IOS, IOT, iPad, iPhone, Malware, McAfee, MDM, Mobile, Mobile device, Security, Tablet, Verizon, VZ

RB | April 16, 2015

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Wi-Fi Charges Up Ethernet

Information Technology prognosticators Gartner (IT) predicts that 40% of enterprises will use Wi-Fi as the default connection for mobile and non-mobile devices by 2018 according to Fred Donovan at FierceMobileIT. The prediction says that typically fixed location devices like; desktops, desk phones, projectors, and conference rooms will use Wi-Fi as their primary connection replacing Ethernet.

Gartner says Wi-Fi is facilitating BYOD. The enterprise Wi-Fi network now allows workers to choose any device and move anywhere in the workplace. Gartner argues that the introduction of security measures like 802.1X augmented with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption has lessened IT’s worry about security breaches involving the Wi-Fi infrastructure. Ken Dulaney, V.P. and distinguished analyst at Gartner said;

Ethernet cabling has been the mainstay of business workspace connectivity since the beginning of networking. However, as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other consumer devices have multiplied, the consumer space has largely converted to a wireless-first world

Facilitating BYOD

As the first connection to the enterprise infrastructure, Wi-Fi brings workers the ability to choose any device and move anywhere without worry. VP Dulaney continued;

As bring your own device (BYOD) has increased in many organizations, the collision of the business and consumer worlds has changed workers’ demands

Furthermore, cabling systems or even peer-to-peer (P2P) wireless solutions using technologies that offer cable replacement have had to deal with a variety of connectors challenges, such as USB and micro-USB, as video systems move beyond Video Graphics Array (VGA). The market research firm also argues that MACD costs will decrease.

Additions, moves, and changes are costly inconveniences that waste time for enterprise IT organizations. A move can sometimes involve cabling changes that can cost as much as $1,000 … With Wi-Fi printers, desktops, and other devices, all that is required is a cable to the power source, leaving workers free to move themselves making reconfigurations of offices easier.

Because of the many benefits of Wi-FI, Gartner VP Dulaney predicts firms are going to change how they connect;

we expect many organizations to shift to a wireless-by-default and a wired-by-exception model.

New Ethernet specifications

In order to deal with the new wireless-by-default reality, changes are needed on the wired network. Paul Mah at FierceCIO reports that the vendor community is working to address the Wi-Fi first world. Unfortunately, there are two industry groups pushing their own new Ethernet specifications. Mr. Mah says that new Ethernet standards are needed to work with Wave 2 of 802.11ac wireless access points (AP) with a theoretical maximum throughput of up to 3.5Gbps.

New standards are needed because the existing Gigabit Ethernet is a bottleneck and current alternatives are not attractive. First, link-aggregating two Gigabit Ethernet connections for each Wi-Fi AP would need additional cabling and more expensive managed switches to support it. Using 10GbE would be overkill. Upgrading to 10GbE is a significant investment that includes new Category 6a or Category 7 cables, more power, and more cabling.

One faction, the MGBase-T Alliance, was formed in June 2014 and includes; Avaya, Aruba Networks (ARUN), and Brocade (BRCD) as well as component vendors Broadcom (BRCM) and Freescale Semiconductor. The other group known as the NBase-T Alliance was formed in October 2014. This faction consists of Cisco (CSCO), Intel, Xilinx (XLNX), Freescale, and Aquantia, a company that’s already making 2.5G/5G components.

Little agreement on standards

At the moment, the only agreement between the two factions is that 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps speeds are needed. The IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee has set up the P802.3bz 2.5/5GBase-T Task Force to address this issue. The 2015 Q1 CommScope Standards Advisor reports that the 802.3bz committee has decided so far that:

2.5 GBase-T option will run on Cat 5e (Class D) 4 pair UTP up to 100M, and
5 GBase-T option will run on Cat 6 (Class E) 4 pair UTP up to 100M.
There is no release date yet

The concern, however, is that vendors could jump the gun by shipping pre-standard products ahead of standards rectification, complicating matters and slowing down the development of the pertinent standards.

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Remember 802.11n? Pre-standard products? Given that there is no guarantee that systems built with components from the two groups will work together. Don’t jump the gun – waiting for the standard to solidify before buying into new 2.5G/5G Ethernet networking hardware.

For now, Dell’Oro Group analyst Alan Weckel told FierceCIO is that enterprises will probably be able to buy 2.5G/5G equipment starting in Q2 of 2015.

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 1 Gigabit, 2.5 Gigabit, 2015, 5 Gigabit, 802-1X, 802.11ac, 802.3, 802.3bz, AES, Avaya, Belkin International, BRCD, Broadcom, Brocade, BYOD, Cisco, CSCO, Ethernet, Freescale Semiconductor, Gartner, IEEE, MACD, Networking, USB, VGA, Wi-Fi

RB | January 29, 2015

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Are Firms Ignorant About BYOD Issues?

Enterprises are being ignorant towards the issues BYOD is causing to their business says backup vendor Acronis. James Rawbone, Senior Partner Account Manager EMEA, Enterprise Mobility Solutions at Acronis, shared his opinions with Desire Athow at ITProPortal on why and how enterprises are being ignorant towards BYOD issues.

The Acronis 2013 Global Data Protection Trend Report developed by the Ponemon Institute identified five surprising BYOD trends:

1. There are big gaps in secure BYOD policies across organizations. The Acronis survey found that 60% of businesses have no personal device policy in place, and those with policies 24% make exceptions for executives, who are most likely handling the most sensitive corporate data. As a result, these organizations are increasingly vulnerable to data loss and serious compliance issues.

2.Simple security precautions are not being adopted. The survey found only 31% of companies mandate a device password or key lock on personal devices, and only 21% do remote device wipes when employees leave the company, drastically increasing the risk for data leakage.

3.Businesses underestimate the dangers of public clouds. The researchers report that corporate files are commonly shared through third-party cloud storage solutions such as DropBox, but 67% of organizations don’t have a policy in place around public clouds and 80% haven’t trained employees in the correct use of these platforms.

4.The growth of Apple (AAPL) devices is complicating BYOD security for administrators. 65% of organizations will support Macs in the next year, and 57% feel compatibility and interoperability are still big obstacles to getting Macs compliant with their IT infrastructure. This puts data stored and shared across the corporate network and on Apple devices at risk.

5.Some organizations are ignoring the benefits of mobile collaboration altogether. More than 30% surveyed actually forbid personal devices from accessing the network.

Mr. Rawbone sees two reasons organizations are not educating or training their employees on the risks of BYOD. First is time and money. Most companies have tight budgets across the board and in particular within their IT department, as well as their overall staffing. The second excuse for not training their staff is that they are unaware that their staff is using these solutions, or they are turning a blind eye to the issues effect their corporate data and overall IT infrastructure.

The Acronis Senior Partner told ITProPortal there are legal and compliance issues associated with BYOD; but generally BYOD can be adapted to each compliance regulation and rule. The main concern of BYOD is data protection and ensuring that as employees bring devices to-and-from the workplace, confidential corporate data is adequately protected while remaining easily accessible. An important part of data protection, often not addressed by BYOD strategies, includes ensuring that information and records comply with privacy laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), as well as specific industry and regional privacy regulations.

Mr. Rawbone concludes by reminding the author that the important thing every business needs to remember is that mobile devices can be replaced for a small cost in comparison to having your confidential data stolen and used incorrectly.

Companies need to embrace technological evolution and look at the business benefits of BYOD. Otherwise, he claims they will be facing some serious network and data issues and worst of all potentially facing some legal problems in the coming future.

Creating a mobile device security policy doesn’t have to be complicated, but it needs to encompass devices, data, and files. The article lists a number of simple things organizations should do, like require users to key-lock their devices with password protection. 68% of those surveyed use VPN or secure gateway connections across networks and systems, and 52% use Microsoft (MSFT) Active Directory and/or LDAP. The simplest place to start is to use device key-lock and password protection.

BYOD Widening Employee-Employer Trust Gap, Survey Finds (cio.com)

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 2015, AAPL, Acronis, Active Directory, Apple, BYOD, Data loss, Dropbox, Hardware, HIPAA, Microsoft, MSFT, Ponemon Institute, SOX

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