IT Infrastructure - News

Google has expanded the local search pages of Google Maps by adding "Send to GPS" to its "Send to" feature, according to the statement. That means TomTom users can add business addresses to their devices without having to download .zip files. After a user searches for a business address on Google Maps, all he has to do is click on the "Send to GPS" button to transfer the information to his TomTom device.

The information is transferred to the device when it is connected to the Internet via TomTom Home, the company's free software application. Once this is completed, motorists can view the location of the business on the map on the TomTom device as well as navigate to the destination. The address can also be saved on the device as a "favorite" for later use, TomTom International said.

"We are constantly working to make our maps more useful so they become a one-stop shop for finding all the local information and directions that people need," said Giorgio Scherl, a Google product manager, in the statement.

At the same time, the aim of todayÂ’s attacks has also changed. There is a shift towards more financial damage due to the theft of sensitive company data.

To protect against these threats requires security products that guard against malware and intrusions. Additionally, mobile workers need a secure way to share information, retrieve e‑mail and access company applications and resources.

Increasingly, businesses are looking to integrated solutions that combine multiple forms of protection. [Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances] enable managers to protect their networks through a single administrative interface without the burden of running multiple servers. As a result, UTM appliances offer a lower cost of ownership than traditional solutions.

With mobile workers, the challenge becomes how to ensure they:

• Keep their security software up to date
• Install new patches as they become available
• Do not tamper with their security settings and firewalls
• Keep their portable equipment safe from physical theft

Businesses need to educate their mobile workers to employ best practices and monitor their users security solutions constantly.

Have you secured you data from Smartphones?

Professionals are increasingly realizing the productivity benefits of mobile devices such as Smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and converged PDA/phones. While this mobile revolution is an advantage to professionals, it is creating a tremendous security management challenge for CIOs and other IT professionals. Proprietary and confidential data is now moving outside of the secure perimeter of the enterprise and onto mobile devices that can be located anywhere in the world. WhatÂ’s more, these devices have a variety of data communication and storage technologies, such as e-mail/PIM synchronization software, infrared data transmission, Bluetooth and removable data storage. As a result, it is easy for mobile devices to become strongholds of enterprise information.

Unless actions are taken to secure this information, the mobile device represents a potentially severe security risk to the enterprise.

Man gets two years jail for AOL spam scam

(Reuters) - A New Jersey man was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Friday for helping send spam e-mails to more than 1.2 million America Online subscribers.

Todd Moeller, 28, was sentenced 27 months in prison in a federal court in New York after he was caught making a deal with a government informant to send junk e-mails advertising a computer security program in return for 50 percent of the profits, the U.S. Attorneys Office in Manhattan said.

Moeller and Adam Vitale of New York pleaded guilty earlier this year to breaking anti-spam laws and defeating AOLs filter system by using a variety of computer servers and changing the header information on e-mails to ensure they could not be traced, court papers said.

Moeller told the informant via instant messaging he could conceal the source of the e-mails through his access to 40 different servers and had profited $40,000 a month from other spam e-mail scams that promoted stocks, prosecutors said.

Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity Audit program identifies control objectives that are meet by the audit program.  There are 36 specific items that the audit covers.  The program is available as a stand alone product as well as being included in the Disaster Recovery / Business Continuity Template.

The template was created to meet the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, ISO 17799, and PCI-DSS. 

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Automated server and network monitoring 

Internet Server Monitor is a network monitoring tool that enables systems administrators to automatically monitor the network for failures and recoveries. With Internet Network Server Monitor, you can identify issues and fix unexpected conditions before your users or managers report them to you.

Maximize uptime 

Internet Server Monitor maximizes network availability by monitoring network servers, services and applications (resources) running on your Windows and Linux servers, workstations, and devices such as routers. When a failure or recovery is detected, Internet Server Monitor can alert you remotely by email, pager or SMS, as well as on your desktop via system tray icon status and popup, sound, or message box. Failures and recoveries can optionally be logged to any Windows Event Log or your syslog server.

Performs real tests, rather than deducing status from port scans

Internet Server Monitor actually handshakes with network resources. In some cases specific functions are called enabling Internet Server Monitor to not only determine if a network resource is available, but the resource is functioning adequately.

Affordable monitoring made easy

Internet Server Monitor uses the latest user interface components, is easy to set up and use, and is priced well below our leading competition. Unlike much of our large corporate world competition, being a smaller software company enables us to quickly respond to feature requests with a typical turn around time of 2 weeks for simple requests and 1 month for significant requests. We also offer one year of software updates and free toll free phone and email technical support.

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A free copy of the summary results are available at http://www.it-toolkits.com/Salary.htm

More than Security Policies and Procedures Are Need to Stop a Security

If you the Chief Security Officer (CSO), you probably do not question whether your enterprise will experience a serious data loss, but rather when the loss will occur. It is pretty clear that the loss of trade secrets, personal employee data or confidential customer information can cause serious harm to an enterprise. It could even lead to civil litigation if the data loss breaches nondisclosure obligations.

Recent case law has proven just how much of a legal duty companies have to properly safeguard data. And states have started to pass laws requiring companies to warn those who may be affected by data security breaches.

Despite increasing security efforts, the Internet today remains the Wild West of data security, where employees and their friends often freely discuss information that may be highly confidential. An even more elusive threat may be people outside the companies who overhear or inadvertently learn confidential information. In the wrong hands, this information can circulate the globe on the Internet in a matter of hours. For the CSO, the importance of a sound data security program has never been greater.

Ban on Net Tax Extended but Not Made Permanent

A U.S. House of Representatives committee has voted to extend an Internet tax moratorium for four years, but declined to make the tax ban permanent, as some lawmakers had advocated. The House Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

The current ban on access and other taxes unique to the Internet expires this November. Congress first passed the Internet tax moratorium in 1998.

• Cutting staff without thinking about the impact on the staff that remain
• Choosing a vendor based on price without taking into consideration the quality and knowledge loss
• Eliminating contactors and 3^rd party service providers who have unique experience and knowledge of the enterprises IT functions and operations
• Waiting too long before upgrading software, network and hardware
• Consolidating space for equipment and people without considering the ramifications of the complexity of the consodidation

Last year, 8.4 million Americans were victims of identity theft, and many were left with a bad credit report, which takes months or years to repair, the lawmakers said.

Cybercriminals are getting smarter and more effective in their online efforts to strip Americans of their privacy and their property.

The bill would also eliminate a requirement that the loss resulting from damage to a victim's computer must exceed $5,000 for prosecution; make it a felony to use spyware or keyloggers to damage 10 or more computers; and expand the definition of cybercrime to include extortion schemes that threaten to damage or access confidential information on a computer.

The wrong metric will case wrong behavior.

• Detail Security Audit Program with automated graphical reporting;
• Network Event Viewer to monitor and audit system logs;
• S.M.A.R.T. Disk Monitor to monitor and audit folder security and access;
• Text Log Monitor to monitor and review large log files; and
• Detail job descriptions for a Director of Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance and Manager of Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance.

The SOX Compliance Monitoring and Auditing Suite is available in two versions: Small to Medium Sized Business - from a single server monitor an unlimited number of computers and disks ($799.95); Enterprise - from up to different servers monitor an unlimited number of computers and disks ($1,999.95. Included in the cost of the Small to Medium Sized Business is 12 months of maintenance and 24 months in the Enterprise version.

The SOX Compliance Monitoring and Auditing Suite enables Network Administrators to manage and view multiple Windows Vista/XP/2000/NT machine simultaneously. The Windows Event Logs are downloaded from the networked computers and saved locally. Network Administrators can manually download files, or configure the Network Event Viewer service to download and/or clear the files at a specific time or interval. Filters can be created enabling the service to automatically email important entries to the Network Administrator. The service can send a PDA friendly message or a detailed message which includes the entries of interest. The service can also append the filtered results to a file. The viewer enables Network Administrators to view multiple files simultaneously. The viewer supports the same filter mechanism as the service enabling specific entries on multiple machines to be viewed. The viewer also has a search function.

The components of the IT SOX Compliance Monitoring and Auditing Suite have received several major awards including: the prestigious Tucow's 5 cow award, TopShareware.com 5 star award, the Softpedia 100% clean award certifying that the program contains no spyware, adware, or viruses, and the Snapfiles 3.5 Ranking.

Metrics are a driver in changing behavior.  However, implementing a strict set of metrics based on existing policies and procedures across all  functions often stifles the one element that enables companies to break away from the pack and grow profitably and consistently, employee-driven innovation. In many situations, an empowered, engaged employee is a more productive and profitable one. IT Service Management and Service-Oriented Archiecture (SOA) solutions must enable these types of “ad hoc,” collaborative interactions to better serve customers and meet over-all enterprise needs, while also automating the process-driven, transactional interactions that serve the needs of the organization.

• 77% of employees at U.S. businesses have access to a personal computer with Internet access
• 71% of those surveyed use Web-based email at work for personal reasons
• 52% of companies have acceptable use policies regarding employeesÂ’ use of the internet, and allow employees to access and use social media web sites at work.

Add to this the use of chat rooms, forums, instant messaging, peer-to-peer and web applications and it becomes clear just how much traffic passes through the HTTP gateway  and right through corporate firewalls. Below are some additional findings from the same survey.

• 87 percent of office workers access Web 2.0 sites each week, with 63 percent accessing the sites one or more times a day;
• 51 percent of office workers spend one or more hours a week using and accessing Web 2.0 sites when at work;
• 46 percent of office workers have discussed work-related issues on social media websites
• 50 percent of office workers believe that employees should be entitled to access Web 2.0 Internet content from their work computer for personal reasons.

While many companies are obsessive about external email security to protect against external threats, far fewer pay the same attention to the threat capability of internal email and web use.

This Security Audit program contains over 400 unique tasks divided into 11 areas of audit focus which are the divided into 38 separate task groupings. The audit program is one that either an external auditor, internal auditor can use to validate the compliance of the Information Technology and the enterprise to ISO 17799, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS.

The 11 areas of audit focus are:

• Corporate Security Management Objectives

• Systems Development and Maintenance Objectives

• Information Access Control Management Objectives

• Compliance Management Objectives

• Human Resource Security Management Objectives

• Information Security Incident Management Objectives

• Communications and Operations Management Objectives

• Organizational Asset Management Objectives

• Physical and Environmental Security Management Objectives

• Security Policy Management Objectives

• Disaster Recovery Plan and Business Continuity Objectives