1) Defend against external, agent-based threats: A favourite trick of the hackers is to use a virus, worm, Trojan Horse or combination malicious content embedded in a spam attack or URL Web page as a carrier for an agent-based attack, for example an executable file, that once inside the network trolls around sniffing for sensitive data to report back to a remote server. Prevent your computer systems from becoming zombies that these agent attacks hijack to steal and malign confidential data: deploy an integrated security system that looks at all of these attacks in their full context and in real time to prevent the exploit from ever entering the many exposed edges of the network.

2) Many enterprises have invested in conventional firewall technology, blind to blended threats, or antivirus software in the host or client environment, but the multiple edge of today's modern distributed enterprise generally have not been secured adequately against the blended threat. Establishing 'trusted zones' between edge connections, such as email servers and remote access servers, is a more progressive, comprehensive defence strategy. This is an effective way of dealing with threats that originate internally so as to stem further outbreaks and also to nullify external threats that bounce from edge point to edge point probing for vulnerabilities.

Based on the feedback you get from your clients, are there more internal or external security breaches?


As outline above, the nature of the modern threat is such that it's really difficult to distinguish between external and internal threats; an external threat can quickly become an internal threat if the multiple edges and access points to business critical data are not 'redoubted' or protected by multiple layers, and internal threats can quickly become external liabilities if your network becomes vulnerable to an agent attack that uses a FTP engine to export internal documents and data, as with the Sasser attack, or uses it's own SMTP engine to harvest internal Outlook accounts and broadcast email spam attacks to the outside world, effectively diminishing your corporate reputation and brand equity. A full context security solution that scans the complete cross-section of internal and external threats is the best way to redoubt network connections.

What do you expect from the future? Is it likely for a "cyberterrorism" event to take place in the next 12 months or do you see it as media hype?

Companies and organisations are victims of a form of cyberterrorism everyday; professional hackers who invade corporate networks to slow down business performance or outright disrupt business continuity are stealing money and damaging reputations. In worse cases, the hackers cause billions of dollars of damage to computer systems or steal sensitive business or customer data. The criminal nature of the blended threat attack is evidenced by the recent arrest of the Sasser attack author.