Holiday shopping tips, top 5 newsletter articles, featured gartner report
| SecureWorks - On the Radar Newsletter - December 2008 | |
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Safe Shopping Tips from SecureWorks
Do you shop online? If so, you need to take precautions to protect yourself from the hackers and identity thieves every time you make an online purchase. Don’t let yourself become another victim of cybercrime this holiday season. Here are some expert tips from SecureWorks’ Counter Threat UnitSM to stay safe when shopping online:
- Be wary of holiday gift cards and holiday coupon offers sent via e-mail—these often have malicious links within the offer which lead to downloads of info-stealing Trojans or the hackers try to scam you out of your bank account information.
- When visiting your favorite online retailer to purchase gifts, be sure to type the actual Web site address of the retailer into your browser. Do not follow links provided by e-mail offers or pop up ads. Many times these are fraudulent sites made to look like the legitimate retail sites.
- When making online purchases, always use a credit card that limits your fraud liability. Avoid using debit cards to do online purchases when possible so as to limit your personal exposure to any possible fraudulent transactions.
- When making online purchases, always look at your Web browser for the https (as opposed to http) protocol that proceeds a Web address. The “s” let’s you know that the Web site is providing a layer of security for transmitting your personal information over the Internet.
- Be wary of unsolicited e-mails, even from senders that you know, that include links or attachments. Before clicking on links or attachments, ALWAYS verify that the correspondent sent you the e-mail and enclosed link or attachment.
- Be wary of e-mails notifying you that your banking certificate or token is out of date and to download a new certificate or token. Before taking any action, verify with your financial institution by calling them on a number that is not provided in the email.
- Avoid using simple (weak) or default passwords for any online site.
SecureWorks Top 5 Newsletter Articles - 2008
Vulnerability Assessments vs. Penetration Tests
Vulnerability assessments and penetration tests are integral components of a successful Information Security Program. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, they are quite different in their purpose and benefits. With this in mind, I'd like to explain the differences between vulnerability assessments and pen tests.
Learn more about Vulnerability Assessments vs. Penetration Tests
Security 101: Cyber-Warfare
As the Internet has grown to become a greater component of national infrastructures that support government, commerce and the daily activities of billions of people worldwide, so too has the threat of one nation launching cyber attacks against another. Whether or not such attacks are officially sanctioned or conducted by a nation's government, cyber-warfare is playing an increasingly prominent role in global conflicts.
Learn more about Cyber-Warfare.
The Rogue Plague: SC Magazine Podcast
Malicious programs posing as antivirus software, a.k.a "rogue antivirus", are infecting PCs and fooling computer users into paying millions of dollars for a phony product. In this exclusive Podcast with SC Magazine, SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit Researcher Joe Stewart discusses how the rogue antivirus is being distributed and how cybercriminals are using it for their own profits.
Listen to the SC Magazine Podcast
Log Management Explained
Logs stem from every system on your network, detailing all of the activity on your network. This makes logs a vital source of information for security, regulatory compliance and IT troubleshooting. Unfortunately, it also means that millions of logs are produced by the devices in a typical IT environment every single day. Making sense of this large volume of log data is no simple task and it requires having the right technology, people and processes in place to manage your logs.
Learn more about log management
Gartner Research: What Organizations are Spending on IT Security
According to research and advisory firm Gartner Inc., "Many CIOs and chief information security officers (CISOs) are uncertain about what is a 'normal' level of security spending in terms of a percentage of the overall IT budget - especially during economic uncertainty." This research note will help IT managers understand how organizations are investing in their information security and compare their spending with that of their peers.
View the complimentary Gartner report made available to you by SecureWorks.
Featured Gartner Research
Best Practices for Midsize Businesses Seeking Cost-Effective Compliance
According to Gartner, "Midsize businesses face unique challenges in addressing complex, multifaceted compliance requirements." In this research note, Gartner provides key findings and recommendations to help midsize companies take a comprehensive, strategic approach to compliance.
View the complimentary Gartner report
SecureFacts:
The number of attempted hacker attacks blocked for SecureWorks retail clients have increased 161% in December
SecureWorks, Press Release
