Future Trends in Internet Security

Internet is one of tremendous achievement in the recent history since the computer age started. In the beginning, when the internet was structured the commercials were not allowed. But later internet became one of the backbones for industries, shopping, banking sector and for other commercials, which resulted in high business and at the same time paved way for cyber crimes. Though in earlier days the rates of cyber crimes were less, now the advancement in computer software technology has substantially increased the online crimes causing serious cyber security threats. Now internet network is one of the most importantly considered infrastructures for commercials globally, if this is not secured properly, not only ecommerce is at risk but also the life of humans can also be at stake. That means the future is at risk without security.

Drawbacks of Unsecure Internet
An Unsecure internet is like a human without dress. So if internet is not secured then any one can trespass to connect to your computer over internet and steal your information. So internet security has become a greater challenge for both personal and commercial use. If a computer connected to internet is not secured, then it is vulnerable to multiple attacks which include packet sniffing, phishing, TCP / IP hijacking & Spoofing, redirecting the router and other such kind of active attacks. So a proper and secure infrastructure can alone prevent such kind of active attacks.

How to secure the internet from Vulnerability?
By analysing the past and present trends in the internet security, the experts have come with a new scenario about the future of internet security. The scenario when overlooked would be simple to read but it’s difficult to implement, unless and until, we people (internet users) are aware about it. The future IT trend will give the solutions that provide additional layer of security to the computer and internet. The recent IT trend is focused mostly on the future security measures which may include

1.) Website Security – Secure Sockets Layer, Web Internet Protocol (IP) Security

2.) Web Application Security - Web penetration testing, Denial of Service attack, Web Server Firewall, Protection for programming languages used in websites e.g. java, html etc used for designing the website.

3.) Desktop Security – Internet security suite, Firewall, Antivirus, Anti Spyware, Anti – Malware, Adware protection, Vulnerability Analyzer, Security based PC Utilities, Anti Spam including PGP / Smime e-mail

4.) Infrastructure Development for Enterprises – Biometric Authentication, Smart cards, Access Control

5.) Implementation of ISO (International Organization for Standardization) Model in Organisations

6.) Wi-fi or Wireless Security

Technically speaking, there are lot of confusions of what layer of security is required, or which kind of certificate is appropriate for PKI – Public key infrastructure, those suites globally and so on. Also the security measures that needs to be considered for extranets and intranets, which leads to a question of authentication level. So when a proper analysis is being made for security verticals including wire-less communications will provide a solution with key advantages. So for the base of website security the encryption and decryption level needs to be suggested by cryptographic experts. When it comes to computer security, it’s the effective desktop security solution that needs to prevent / protect an unauthorized access. This is because if the computer is vulnerable only there would be an unauthorized access, so if a comprehensive internet security suite is being installed in the computer, it works as a guard to the computer, prevent such vulnerable attacks and more over defending and shielding the computer from malicious attacks.

Though the government and internet councils has been trying to regulate the law of encrypted internet still it’s a very difficult task for them, due to lack of awareness. So once the awareness is being created, then we can assure that the future is secure. From present to future these changes will happen gradually from tiny to complex security. If any organisation wants to monopolize their security applications, then we are not getting the better security solution. The reason is more the competition is; better the product would be. So let’s welcome competition.

- Yuvaraj

Hermesmyth

Your Marketing Partner
http://www.hermesmyth.com

Palm Security – Biometric Authentication for your PC – Personal Computer – by Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. Has developed a highly precise biometric authentication. It has the technology that can verify as person’s identity by recognizing the pattern of blood veins in the person’s palm. This new of Biometric authentication PC Security technology is more useful in the securing your PC. The use of this technology would enable convenient biometric authentication for a wide range of applications, such as safe guarding important information through log in verification for the access to sales, technical or personal data.

How this New Method of Biometric Authentication Technology does helps in PC Security?

This new 2008 technology, in which it has incorporated a prototype computer mouse, identifies an individual by the unique pattern of veins in the palm. Palm vein patterns are advantageous for this purpose because they are unique from one person to the next and expect for the size, they do not change as the individual grows. The authentication process works as follows.

The palm is first illuminated by an infrared light. The veins just beneath the skin of the palm then emit a black reflection, giving a picture of the veins of the palm.

Using a proprietary Fujitsu algorithm, the pattern is then extracted from this picture and is checked against patterns stored in the system if there is a match the person’s identity is confirmed. This biometric authentication will surely help computer users securing them from identity theft. Also some measures have been taken to build this technology into wall-plates or mobile readers for other applications – Which were previously used by having stored the thump impression. Now it would be the palm security for 2008. Biometric security is both easy to use and hard to defeat, so its no surprise that finger scanners are popping up on notebooks as well as PC peripherals. But once you have swiped them anyone can use the computer. Now around 700 people were experimented with this new technology. Fujitsu has not yet begun selling the Palm Secure PC login kit. Also keep in mind that the Palm Secure works only on Windows XP and Vista. If you want to have managed multi-user biometric authentication across the enterprise’s PC’s, you need the authentication server edition.

Continuing with the PC Security, you also need to have the Desktop Security and Internet Email security products as well. The job would be to be more safe and Secure from the world of phishing or virus attacks.

The Future of Computer Security

Article by Comodo's President & CEO - Melih Abdulhayoglu

Source: http://forums.comodo.com/

The Future of Computer Security

People keep asking me:

Is AV dead? Is HIPS the ultimate solution? Are we going to need to have chips surgically implanted in our…”

Okay, let’s not degenerate this in the first fifty words. I’d like to start with some facts about the state of software security for PCs.

1. The world does not protect itself against Zero Day attacks. The majority thinks it does, but reality begs to differ.
2. People buy AV products because they don’t know any better. Ignorance is bliss, but not in security. Security checks have been bumped up since 9/11 – enough said.
3. People are lazy, myself leading that pack. We want things done, but we don’t want to lift a finger. It’s 2007, so we shouldn’t have to!

Let me expand on these points.

1. The world does not protect itself against Zero Day attacks.
Our primary protection is the use of software products called AV (antivirus). These products essentially create a signature for the malware, which functions much like a mug shot does for a criminal, but only after the crime has been committed. In PCland, AV can never be used as protection against Zero Day attacks because the virus signature (a.k.a. the mug shot) has not been created yet; hence, no protection. In an ideal, if not idiotic, world, virii authors would be kind enough to submit their malware to AV vendors, wait for them to create signatures and update their AV users, and then release their malware to the public so that we could catch zero day attacks. We can expect that about as much as we can expect the criminal to go to the police and say “hey, I’m going to commit a crime”, and the police to prevent the crime. My point: we just don’t protect ourselves against Zero Day attacks.

2. People buy AV products because they don’t know any better.
People buy a lot of AV, so it must be the best protection available, right? Wrong. This is not a good argument. People buy a lot of cigarettes, too. This is not to discredit AV; it does what it was designed to do, but it just isn’t enough by itself. Fraudsters and their toys are a force to be reckoned with, and AV alone isn’t up to the fight.

3. People are lazy.Look around you:
we built washing machines because we got tired of hauling our laundry and the washboard to the river and back. We built dishwashers so husbands wouldn’t have to wash dishes (and spot on, I say!). From cars to nappies, humans demand easy-to-use, painless solutions that give us more time for ourselves and deliver the desired outcome with minimal effort. We want the same from our internet security. We can clap our hands and turn on a lamp, so we should be able to “plug and protect” our PCs just as easily.

The future, from my point of view.
Our houses have doors, burglar alarms and insurance. Well, most do, at least. If you don’t have a door, a burglar can walk in and steal your PC; thus, the door prevents the burglar from entering.

But Melih, doors can be kicked in!

Yes, they can, so continuing to get stronger doors isn’t much of a solution. This is why we should never rely on just one layer of security. The door to the house isn’t enough, so we install a burglar alarm. If he can get in, at least we can detect him – prevention plus detection, two layers. Let’s say he cuts your electric wires or manages to turn off the burglar alarm in another way (They make it look so easy on TV, don’t they?). He walks away with not only your computer, but your priceless stamp collection, too. This is why we have insurance, to recover the value of stolen items. Thus, insurance is the cure, the third layer in our layered approach. Stacking up these layers, in order, to protect the PCs in our homes, we have:

1. A door for prevention
2. A burglar alarm for detection, and
3. Insurance for the cure.

I thought you were going to tell us how to secure our PCs, not our homes, Melih!

I just did. The layered approach can be just as easily applied to our PCs. We use AV as our main source of defense, but is AV prevention? No, it’s detection, the veritable burglar alarm for a PC, but it must have the malware signature – the burglar’s mug shot – or it won’t sound the alarm. A new burglar, however, has a free pass, and no alarm goes off. This, my friends, is the infamous Zero Day attack, which our AV allows to happen. Now relax, AV devotees. I’m not saying AV is crap; I’m just pointing out its weaknesses, so calm down. With AV, our PC “house” has a burglar alarm but no door. Ridiculous, right? But that’s how it is! Some of us employ Firewalls too, but that’s also a form of detection, with a little prevention thrown in, if it’s a decent Firewall that doesn’t leak. If a firewall does leak, it lets the burglar (malware) take something out of the house or, in firewallspeak, make a call to the Internet with your sensitive information. A good firewall sounds an alarm in the form of a popup when this happens, and a really good firewall gives you advice on what to do next. You need both the AV and the firewall to detect someone coming in and things going out. So now our PC house has a decent burglar alarm (detection), but no door. Yikes!

Dude, where’s my door?
This is where we are challenged and need to change the model altogether. We are backwards when it comes to our default settings, but we can overcome this. Today, it’s fair to say that PCs are running with the “default: allow” function, which means they are allowing everything to run and hoping to catch the bad stuff before it executes. It’s more of a swinging gate than a door, and can’t really provide the prevention we seek.

So we should run with the “deny all” function and only allow the good stuff, right?

Bingo. With the “default: allow” in place, we operate on a system of “blacklisting”, blocking only the things that we know ahead of time are destructive. By reversing that and only granting entry to those names on the “whitelist”, we save ourselves the hassle of trying to figure out who’s good and who’s bad. If you aren’t on the list, you’re not coming in, period. Thus, we have a door, it’s solid, and it’s locked.

But Melih, who wants to deal with all the popups asking us if we trust ‘this or that’?Frankly, no one, but why are we making the assumption that the whitelist database will be limited? It is feasible to create a very cogent whitelist security layer which will be virtually noise-free for the average user, and that is exactly what we are doing.

The days of going to bed without locking the front door are long past. PC security is, or should be, just as important as the security of our homes and personal belongings. We deserve to live our lives without the constant worry of burglary and vandalism, and only a layered approach will give us that peace of mind in regard to our computers.

Melih’s prediction: prevention will become the first line of defense!

thank you

Melih


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