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A lot of effort and expense in Internet security is directed towards ‘keeping the bad guys out’. This is half the solution. What is overlooked, and equally critical, is how to keep the important data within. Internet content security is about keeping the ‘bad stuff’ on the outside of your network. Data leakage is concerned with keeping the ‘good stuff’ on the inside. Who are the primary culprits on data leakage - your own staff. Read on to see how leaks can occur and what measures you need to be taking to manage your environment.

What is Data Leakage?

There are two primary data leakage elements to be concerned with:

1. What data you should protect and
2. What constitutes a leak?

Data that is sensitive, or the ‘good stuff’, covers a range of corporate assets such as:

• Intellectual Property (IP) - company secrets, product designs, mathematical formulas, research papers, source code, patents, schematics, recipes, proposals, reports, etc.
• Commercial Information - financial reports, employee payroll, contracts, business plans, acquisition targets, product and marketing launch plans, budgets, customer databases etc.
• Confidential Information - patient health records, customer financial information, legal contracts, employee resumes and agreements, reprimands, pre-release reports, etc.

How Does Leakage Occur

• Emailing data to the wrong recipient or attaching the wrong file to an email.
• Deliberately emailing information to competitors by an employee.
• Disclosure of confidential information.
• Emailing confidential information in an un-encrypted format.
• Internal staff using webmail or email that is not screened to discuss confidential subjects with external parties.

Data Leakage Is More Common Than You Expect

The issue with data leakage is not how common it is, but its severity, the nature of the data and how it has been leaked. With the span of data and the conduits for ‘leakage’, almost every company can attest to an incident of an internal security breach - willful or accidental. These breaches include loss of information and Intellectual Property theft. Interestingly, the majority of incidents came from inside their organizations.

One IDC study from late 2007 shows that 84% of all data leakage incidents can be attributed to employees. And the methods for stealing data increase - Blackberries, USB key drives, torrent uploads, and instant message file transfers. Companies should be more prepared than ever to monitor and control these activities.

What does Data Leakage look like when it is discovered? Here are some recent media stories. Imagine putting your company name in place of the one listed. For example,

• Apple suffered significant embarrassment after two employees revealed secret new product information on their personal blog sites.
• A statistician employed by the Palm Beach County, Fla., health department inadvertently emailed his colleagues the names of 6,600 locals known to be infected with HIV and AIDS. This was a serious breach of the Federal laws on handling patient information and ensuring patient privacy.
• Honeywell International Inc. says a former employee has disclosed sensitive information relating to 19,000 of the company’s U.S. employees.

What are the Costs of Data Leakage?

The costs can span many areas. These can be anything from public embarrassment to financial loss, reduced stock equity, loss of competitive advantage or even criminal investigation and prosecution. In the case of Apple, where their employees revealed product information before it was released, the company’s share price plummeted after the leak was revealed. The company was forced to fire the employees involved, resulting in embarrassment, lost productivity and legal costs.

In the incident with the Palm Beach health department, the apparent violation of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) could result in prosecution, not to mention the loss of patient confidence in the department’s ability to protect their information. When the action damages an image or reputation, the financial costs of data leakage are very hard to quantify.

In more tangible matters, like IP loss, a damage assessment can probably be compiled. Consider a hypothetical scenario, where a company’s new MP3 player designs and specifications are leaked to a competitor before it is launched. This breach could undermine the company’s entire business and lose millions of dollars in revenue. Imagine if the Ipod design was leaked - what would this mean to Apple in lost opportunity. The damage can be embarrassment, loss of professional reputation and possibly boost in the competitor’s market advantage.

Conclusion

Data Leakage is real and it starts on the inside. We often spend so much time building a wall around our enclaves that we do not consider risk internally. Unfortunately, real incidents are telling us we should look inward first and then outward. How secure do you feel about your data leakage prevention efforts?

We work with companies to assure their data and messaging is in compliance and secure. Our solutions are state of the art, quick to implement, cost effective and provide the comfort to know your data is secure. A phone discussion with our staff is a great way to assess your environment and what would be the best action plan. Visit our website Enclave Data to learn more.

You have the responsibility to maintain your company’s digital environment. With the right tools, you can now also have the control to assure compliance and protect your company’s assets.

Leakage involves distribution methods where data could be released - accidentally or stolen.

In this advanced technology where we are entirely dependent on the computer for everything, whether it’s shopping, reservation or education. Working on computer makes you feel irritated and sometimes, it gives you unpleasant experience just because of bombarding unwanted pop-ups adds on the screen of your computer frequently. Activities are tracked on you computer and disturb your privacy because of unwanted guests. Computer gets hang and sometimes software gets crash. Fortunately, Anti Spyware software is one of the beneficial solutions for that, we have now days. It makes you relax by saving your computer from disturbing and unwanted intruders.

Windows Anti Spyware program is not only helpful for getting rid of malware, which are already stored on your PC but it also safeguards your system from later on effects of Spy programs. Generally, all the Anti Spyware Software fights Spy-ware in two ways:

Anti-Spyware exposes and eliminates Spy-ware!

Anti-Spy program is combination of detection and removal feature. First of all this spyware doctor performs a thorough scan on all the program files which includes windows program files and the installed software files. The inspection results give the list of spy-ware programs. Secondly it removes spying software and every traces of it from your PC. It is an extra ordinary and updated version of Anti Spyware software that smartly removes Adware and makes it Adware proof.

If you do a comparison between ordinary anti-virus software and anti-Spy programs, for sure spy-ware killer will wins the race. It is much more powerful than any other Spy-ware detectors like much easily available free downloadable anti-virus software. As it has already mentioned this anti-spy-ware scanner program have the functionality that not only detect and but also delete all the spy-ware from your computer. Not only it scans the network with incoming data and files of disk at download time, but also when it detect any such action, it immediately start working on that and gives your 100% result by removing all unwanted and disturbing material.

NO DOUBT, this Anti-Spy program is like a true friend that ensures you 100% protection from the Spy-ware. It helps you in safe and beneficial working experience on the system. It gives you Adware and Spy-ware proof surroundings which is far away from our expectations, so without wasting time download any authentic and genuine Anti Spy software say bye-bye to all unwanted disturbing elements forever - today.

Trojan virus is a small malicious program that is hidden within other programs. They look innocent from outside but contain malicious programs within them and hence these programs are also called Trojan horse with reference to the classical Greek literature. In most cases, they are delivered to the victim’s computer, without the knowledge of the user, as executable files, usually through email attachments, chat lines, files transfers through FTP and so on. The most common source of such virus infection is through freeware or shareware programs, free MP3s and movie downloads. These are freebies on the net that easily attract the netizens and they unknowingly download the files that when executed install the virus in the system.

There are different types of Trojan horses used for different purposes. Most well knowns are AIDS, Back Orifice, Back Orifice 2000, Beast Trojan, Bifrose, Acojonaor, AIM Spy, Ambush, Aqua, VMLFILL and so on. Trojan virus can be used for erasing data or copying or overwriting data of the infected computer’s HDD, encrypting and corrupting system files and data files, uploading and downloading bulk materials, installing other malicious software like spyware, virus, phishing software, retrieving email addresses, passwords and credit card numbers.

As this virus disables the anti virus software of the system, it becomes impossible to protect the system from it. The easiest way of removing it from the system is to completely format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system and other software. But virus attacks are so common these days that it is impossible to carry our clean installation every now and then. Especially with so much vital information on the disk it is not really a viable solution. Again, you can reinstall the system only when you will be aware of the existence of the Troj virus in the system. Once your system is infected it takes time to discover the existence of the Trojan and this is not really good for your security and safety.

Another effective solution for removing such virus from your computer is the Trojan horse removal software. This software scans the system for the virus and removes them immediately when found. You can schedule the scanning process and it automatically removes the harmful viruses and keeps your system clean and safe from any threats. So, for safer computing get a remover and stay protected.

The demands for usernames and passwords when registering or logging in to websites is quickly increasing as more and more businesses turn to the internet. Having many online accounts creates the following temptations that you should not give in to:

• Do not use the same sequence for all your usernames and passwords, as tempting as that may be. If this security-sensitive information were to end up in the wrong hands, it can cost you dearly. It is best to think up a different string of characters for each new web account.
• Do not use a password with all numbers or letters-mix them up.
• Do not use personal information, such as names, birth dates, etc., that is easy to find out about you by automated hacker programs or by someone who you think you can trust or has access to this information about you.
• Do not record usernames and passwords on your cell phone. People lose their cell phones pretty regularly. Think what a disaster this would be with all this data stored in it. People also purchase new phones because of features their old phone doesn’t have or because the old one breaks down or gets damaged. Either way, they have to re-enter all this information. It is tedious and time consuming to text such sequences accurately into a cell phone.
• Do not record your usernames and passwords in your computer. Some browsers may save them for you, and some websites have a “Remember Me” box, but if your computer crashes, it will have the same result as losing your cell phone–the data will be lost. Also, if you share your computer with others, they can easily delete this data.

The obvious solution is to write down all your various usernames and passwords in some type of notebook. There may be some risk involved in writing down this information, but the risk is minimal and less likely to occur than storing this data on your computer. I found keeping track of all my log-in data in a notebook was somewhat of a hassle too because I had to rewrite the words usernames, passwords, company name, etc. every time I opened a new web account. Even with using abbreviations it was time consuming. That is why I designed a handy book that alphabetically organizes all usernames, passwords and associated log-in data.

1. What is spyware?

Spyware is a scourge on the internet, spyware is malicious software designed to be installed on a person’s personal computer often without their knowledge; where it runs silently, collecting information about your behavior and then using your computer to transmit this valuable behavioral data back to the originating company. Many forms of spyware also launch pop-ups, modify search engine results pages and use other forms of ‘trickery’ to get advertising in front of the computer’s users.

How is Spyware Spread?
Spyware does not usually self-replicate. That means that in order for your computer to become infected by most spyware applications, you have to perform some action such as installing a plug-in to view a web site or installing some other software for your computer.

Most of the spyware that infests people’s computers comes silently bundled with another piece of desirable software such as a toolbar, weather and time program, or one of many other free downloads. Some companies that develop free software such as Weatherbug (A weather forcasting tool) and Kazaa (a file-sharing tool) are paid by advertisers to hide spyware in with their ‘free’ software, installing the unwanted advertising software on millions of computers without the consent of the end-user.

Following is a list of some of the most common spyware-laden ‘free’ applications and software packages. Look familiar? If so, read on and learn how to get rid of these craplications.

* Weatherbug
* Realplayer media player
* MyWebSearch Toolbar
* Comet Cursor
* Cool Web Search
* Internet Optimizer
* 180 Solutions
* HuntBar / WinTools
* Grokster
* Kazaa
* Download Accelerator Plus
* FlashGet
* GoZilla
* NetAnts
* Any “Gator” or “GAIN” products
Spyware and System Performance

One or two pieces of spyware usually aren’t noticeable unless they spawn pop-ups or other forms of advertising. Problems normally only begin to manifest as the number of active spyware programs increases, causing a greater drain on your system resources. A major problem with many forms of spyware is that they are very poorly designed, making the code inefficient and often buggy - If you have spyware on your computer and you experience unexplained ‘crashes’, ‘lock-ups’ or critical errors, it’s likely that the cause is a buggy piece of spyware hiding in your computer and crashing things as it tries to spy on you.

2. How to Get Rid of Spyware FREE

Here I will introduce you to some of the best FREE products on the market for getting this nasty spyware off of your computer. I keep capitalizing the word ‘free’ to emphasize that I am not trying to sell you something here. All of the programs I am about to recommend to you are absolutely free, and the best at what they do. In fact, most of these free spyware-removal utilities are better than the crap many other sites try to sell you. In fact, there are dozens of anti-spyware programs that not only cost your hard earned money, but are complete frauds and do nothing to remove spyware from your machine. Beware!

I will begin with an overview of the least technical solutions and then move on to more advanced programs. Chances are you will only need to use one of the next two programs to take care of 99% of your spyware problems.Easy-To-Use Spyware Removal Programs

1. Spybot Search and DestroySpybot is one of the most popular free anti-spyware applications currently available. It is constantly being updated to detect the newest spyware threats and is very simple to use. When you open the software for the first time it will walk you step-by-step through the actions needed to scan and remove any spyware that it detects on your computer. Highly recommended.

2. Ad-Aware Personal

Ad-Aware is another popular anti-spyware application that will scan you computer and remove spyware. It seems to be just about as popular and as effective as Spybot Search and Destroy, but as with most well-matched competing products you will find people that swear by one or the other. If you are in doubt, there is no harm in installing and running both programs. Sometimes one will catch some stuff that another does not, but this is generally not needed.

Advanced Spyware Removal Tools

Here we will discuss some programs that require a degree of technical understanding to use effectively. Be warned that you can potentially mess up your computer if you use any of these tools and don’t know what you are doing.

Merijn.org contains several free tools that are well worth investigating if you wish to delve deeper into the bowels of your computer in search of spyware and other malicious code. Visit their download page for an overview of the free goodies available and if any of these programs help you save your computer, consider donating a couple of bucks to the program’s creator for his time. One tool that is definitely worth looking into is HijackThis!

HijackThis! Is a handy little tool that scans your registry and hard drive and displays programs and add-ons in areas that are commonly targeted by spyware, virii, and other unwanted code. This site offers step-by-step instructions on the usage of this software. Read through it and if you’re confident you can use this tool effectively then give it a shot - but be warned, you can disable many legitimate programs if you remove the wrong items.

Well, that’s about it. You’ve just had a crash course in spyware and some of the best free spyware-removal applications out there. Safe and happy surfing!

Every company wants to keep tabs on their spending and keep their accounts in check, in order to keep their profits healthy. But there are some areas where is doesn’t pay to skimp on what you need.

One of these areas is internet security. Hackers can strike at the very heart of your business if you let them, and you can be assured that if they do you will stand to lose far more business (and money) than you would by investing in the services of a company that can stay on top of your security issues for you.

It is important to bear in mind that you are buying far more than just a service, albeit a very comprehensive one. You are buying peace of mind, both for yourself and your clients, and as such it leaves you to get on with the business of taking care of them while more skilled professionals take care of your business’s weak spots.

But why are regular checks necessary, you may be asking yourself? Surely all you need to do is get a professional to determine the viability of your current situation and rectify any weaknesses that may be there?

That might seem to be a valid point, but the landscape of hacking is forever changing and while your business may be rock solid and secure today, things may be very different in even a month’s time. If a hacker finds that they cannot penetrate a system, you can bet they will do all they can to find a way around it. That’s why you need to engage the services of those professionals on a regular basis, to ensure you stay as fully up to date as possible and forever keep one step ahead of the hackers.

There is one other major skill you are paying for if you do decide to have regular checks performed on all aspects of your business infrastructure, and that is knowledge. However much you might think you know personally about the security of your systems, you won’t know as much as the professionals who engage in this kind of work day in, day out.

Furthermore the types of checks which can be performedwill test every area of your business to the fullest extent. Wouldn’t you rather have your security company call you to say they have successfully been able to hack into your systems, than find out that an unknown hacker has exploited the same weakness?

The money you will spend on a security company can obviously be written off against your business as well, reducing your liability for tax throughout the year. Whichever way you look at it you are getting excellent value for money.

Finally, the best part of having regular checks done is that you can tell your clients all about it. You don’t need to mention the company and you shouldn’t tell them exactly what is being done, but you can assure them that you are taking regular measures to ensure their details and security are always your number one priority.

A virus is a small computer program designed to do mischief by destroying data, altering information or even sabotaging entire computer networks.

The computer virus was originally a concept of science fiction. It was used in David Gerrold’s book When Harlie Was Once in 1972 and also in John Brunner’s The Shockwave Rider in 1975.

The concept in John Brunner’s science fiction novel was a worm, the computing equivalent of a parasitic tapeworm, generating new segments for itself in all machines of a network and therefore unstoppable. Although this type of program was beyond the capability of programmers at the time.

The figurative use of the word virus is based on the biological virus which multiples itself within an organism. So too a computer virus has the same ability to replicate itself in a computers system.

A virus spreads by burying itself deep within the computer’s disk operating system (DOS). The DOS is a set of instructions coordinating the activities of the disk drive, the keyboard, the monitor and the CPU that performs the arithmetic and logic operations. The DOS must run every time the computer is turned on.

Viruses tend to sneak past many users of computers because the viruses, like legitimate programs, are written in a computer programming language, a type of code made up of letters, numbers and other keyboard. A programming code gives instructions to the computer “behind the screen” so that most users are never aware that their system has been breached. Until it is too late.

As well as infected legitimate software or the illegal copying of software sold on disks, viruses are transmitted through the internet.

Once a virus has been discovered it is easy to write a simple program to delete the virus. Creators of such viruses, however, can just as easily upgrade their viruses to override such a program. Furthermore, some viruses can change the characters in their code every time they reproduce, making it almost impossible to stop them.

The first real virus was the subject of a computer science experiment in November 1983, presented by Fred Cohen, a professor of computer science at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, to a seminar on computer security. He developed the first computer virus as part of his research on computer security for his doctoral thesis.

When Cohen introduced the concept to the seminar, the name virus was apparently suggested by Len Adleman.

According to Cohen, computer viruses are so easy to write that “anybody can do it”. He said that it was possible in some programming languages to write a virus in as few as 11 characters.

By the second half of the eighties the virus had become a serious and prolific hazard to individual and corporate computer users; because the code copies itself into the computer’s memory and then causes havoc, it became advisable to avoid using floppy discs which might conceivably contain a virus - freeware and discs supplied by clubs, for example.

In one famous incident, London’s Royal National Institute for the Blind temporarily lost six months’ worth of research after being attacked by a virus contained in files on a floppy disc. Considerable financial loss was suffered as a result of the epidemic, not to mention research time and valuable data.

The proliferation of viruses has seen the rise of a new business within the computer industry, the anti-virus. A number of software companies began to offer virus detection programs and ‘good’ viruses which could guard against threats.

Spyware is a computer user’s nightmare proving to be the most annoying and most notorious software ever created. Few people even recognize they have spyware until it becomes so bad that they cannot even load Windows (too many spyware programs take up all resources). Adware is similar to spyware and sometimes are used to mean the same thing as again it is installed on your PC without your consent or knowledge and again probably by installing free software. Adware software however, is concerned with displaying adverts to you while you are using the program it was installed with or perhaps another program.

But what is spyware after all? The name certainly sounds menacing. I know some of you do not know what is spyware is all about. Most of people think the term of spyware, malware and others is a virus. So what is spyware and how does it get into your computer system? Spyware is often included with other software that users intentionally install; mainly free software whose builders get money from the advertisers who distribute the spyware. It is often installed without the knowledge of the end user. Spyware agents may be buggy (it’s hard to publicly beta test them!) and may cause unexplained system crashed. Other examples include what may appear as system freezes, responsiveness issues and general feeling that your system is unwell. If it is on your computer, whoever controls the spyware can gather information about you. In this day and age it normally means that your personal data is exposed to the criminal fraternity leaving you open to theft.

Install anti spyware software or detection software and scan, depending on your web activities daily to weekly. Best practice is to put the scanner in a schedule on your machine, just like a virus scanner, and have it start your scanner every day. Install an Anti-Virus program if you haven’t already done so. Anti-Virus software is extremely effective at stopping Viruses, some Trojans, and most Worms. Remember not to do so is leaving your personnel information often to mis-use.

The objective behind the concept of computer security actually varies quite a bit depending on the use of the computer. Computer security may include the protection of specific information from corruption or theft, for example. In general this can impose specific requirements on computers in addition to most standard system requirements. There are a number of different typical approaches that can be taken when it comes to improving computer security, including the following:

- Physically limiting the access to a computer so that computer security will not be compromised by those who are granted access to use it.

- Utilizing hardware mechanisms that can create and impose rules for specific computer programs, allowing computer security to be imposed without requiring individual programs to implement it.

- Implementing operating system or OS mechanisms that are capable of creating and imposing rules that avoid having to trust programs on the computer.

- Implementing programming strategies that allow subversion to be resisted and make computer programs more dependable.

In most cases, the security devices that are put into place are dependent upon the application uses the computer is created for. Different computer systems require different levels of security, as the level of privacy or protection needed is going to vary significantly. Computer systems under government control, for example, require a much higher level of security than computers used by students in a university setting. The level of required computer security, then, along with what forms of security are implemented, are going to vary significantly as well.

Implementing it may include creating or utilizing secure operating systems, though much of the science associated with this form of security was developed several decades ago. Security architecture is another option, and involves describing how specific security countermeasures and controls are positioned to protect the information technology. Firewalls are an example of security meant to protect computers from threats that travel via the internet or peer to peer connections. Chain of trust techniques are techniques that are used to ensure that all software on a computer is certified as authentic directly from the designers of the system. Access control is used to ensure the separation of privileges, ensuring that only specified people have the right capabilities on a computer system.

There are also cryptographic techniques which transform information into something that is meant to be indecipherable by anyone but approved persons. Information can also be secured for computer security purposes using backup files which allow important files to be protected by creating copies should they ever become corrupted or destroyed.

Essentially, the primary focus of the computer security field of information technology is to protect the integrity of computers, the data contained within them, and any information that may require restricted access. Some level of computer security is needed by anyone who owns a computer, including student computers in a university setting, computers owned and operated by the government, and even the laptop that you use to check your e-mail at night.

The short answer is, YOU. Well, maybe not all the time; but according to a 2006 study by the Computing Technology Industry Association, 60% of all data breaches were the result of human error. I know, you spent gobs of money on firewalls and spam filters and anti-malware (viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, adware, etc.) programs, but the fact of the matter is that even the best security technology is only as good as the people who are using it.

The Danger of Great Technology

During the 1990s, the United States gutted its human intelligence capability. Why? Because we had great technology, satellites that could read a newspaper headline from orbit as well as eavesdropping and other technologies that convinced the administration that we could forego the expense and danger of sending people to gather intelligence. It didn’t take too long to see the problems with this approach as consequence followed consequence. The same concept applies to Internet security technology.

It is very easy to become complacent behind your firewall, to take it for granted that the good folks at Symantec will protect you. Don’t think these technologies have no place-they certainly do-and don’t imagine that your investment is wasted. You need the firewall as well as the anti-malware software but that is merely the first step. It is the least you can do, like relying on satellites to catch terrorists. In fact, the very same lesson learned about the need for human intelligence applies here as well: You need your people on the ground doing their part to maintain security.

On Being Human

Human beings make mistakes. It happens all the time and it’s not likely to change. Your employees will make mistakes, not from malice or stupidity, but simply from being human. For example, an employee might fall for a phishing scam.

The e-mail they receive may look legitimate, but if the victim were to log in, they would open themselves-and probably your company network as well-to data theft and all sorts of other mischief. Of course, phishing and other Internet scams are not the only threats your company might face. Some of the others include people coming on premises to steal information, bogus requests for information coming through the e-mail system, threats to wireless local area networks-especially to laptops being used by business travelers-and the possibility of data loss through physical theft are all possible as well. This is why training and education are so important.

Five Best Practices

In its most recent white paper on the subject, “The People Problem: Five Best Practices for Mitigating Human Factors in IT Security,” TraceSecurity, a Louisiana-based provider of security compliance and risk management solutions, identified five best practices that should be implemented to decrease the possibility of human error resulting in a damaging IT breach. By following these practices, the authors hold, security would be increased and the company’s exposure to legal liability in case there is a breach will be minimized since the company will be able to demonstrate that they took all possible measures to protect the sensitive data for which current regulations make it responsible. These best practices are:

• Defining appropriate policies and procedures governing employee behavior in regards to information security.
• Educating employees about the policies and procedures relevant to them.
• Verifying their understanding of relevant policies and procedures.
• Discovering and addressing behavioral shortcomings.
• Managing change over time including changes in staff, changes in the IT environment, and changes in the present threat.

Defining Appropriate Policies and Procedures

Proper workplace behavior is the result of a combination of policy and procedure. The policy states the goals of the company while the procedure addresses how those goals are to be reached. The key here is to develop a list of the desirable behaviors you want to engender in your employees, such as restricting access to personal e-mail to minimize viral threats, and then to develop clear and consistent policies and procedures that support those behaviors.

Employee Education

A well-educated and security-conscious employee is your best defense against an IT breach. A general employee handbook is fine, as far as it goes, but it is really not reasonable for all employees to know every rule and regulation-especially those that do not necessarily pertain to them. A better approach is to concentrate their education on those topics that are specific to their job functions. This reduces the amount of material they have to wade through to find the rules that cover them and it also makes for a better use of training time.

Verification of Understanding

Once an employee has been trained, it is necessary to verify that they understand what they have learned. Testing and retraining, where appropriate, should be implemented to make sure that everyone is up-to-date on the latest information. This will help ensure compliance with regulatory standards. Testing can be oral, written, online or practical, with actual penetration being attempted by company operatives who will then evaluate the performance of the employee(s) being tested.

Behavioral Shortcomings

It is up to you to figure out why people are making mistakes. Is there a gap between policy and procedure? Does the employee understand that they are creating a problem or is it something else? To handle this, you have to have a system in place for discovering and then fixing such problems. It should first check the employee’s understanding and, if that is lacking, then take steps to eliminate the threat exposure while retraining the employee. Of course, if the behavior is malicious in some way, that is a different story.

Change Management

The one, true constant in the world is change. How you manage that change, within your business or without, will determine to a great degree if that change is harmful or beneficial. Change in business is often accompanied by uncertainty and turmoil within the changing organization. This can leave you vulnerable to an IT breach unless you update your policies and procedures to compensate. Determine how the change affects your IT security and respond accordingly. Is there a new threat you are unprepared for? Research it and find a solution. Are you losing a key person? What do you have to do to make sure that things run smoothly until a replacement is found? The key is to try to figure all this out beforehand.

Implementation

After some research into the connection between human error and IT security threats, you may find that much of what is in these five best practices requires a level of expertise that you don’t have. Don’t let this deter you. Finding expert help now can save you a great deal of trouble later and prove to be far less expensive in the long run.

But why would you need to implement all of this now? The short answer is that disaster has not yet befallen you so you have a chance to prepare. Some companies are not so lucky. Aside from that, there are three other good reasons:

• It is a regulatory necessity. By using best practices in this area, you not only mitigate risk, you mitigate any potential legal liability arising from an IT breach that you might face.
• It is a smarter way to spend your money. Since all the money you spend on computer security only takes you half-way, it makes sense to cover the remaining exposure and that is done by dealing with human factors. In fact, by dealing with those issues, you may well be able to cut down the money you spend on IT security technology.
• Affordability. Initiatives such as these can be very affordable, but they do require vigorous management backing and buy-in by the entire staff. In addition, human factor mitigation can be implemented step-by-step, rather than all at once, which would spread-out the cost and make the new rules easier to adopt.

According to the FBI’s Computer Crime and Security Survey, the average cost of an attack originating from outside an organization is $57,000. The average cost of an attack coming from within an organization is $2.7 million. Isn’t it worth looking into for your business?