Jack B. Voth, voice and data network technology specialist and vice president/director of technology services for The Client Server Inc and co-author of the book Chained Exploits: Advanced Hacking Attacks from Start to Finish, offers his insight
In part five of our series, we talk to Jack B. Voth, voice and data network technology specialist and vice president/director of technology services for The Client Server Inc., a local and national information technology solution provider, who offers his insight on the latest IT threats. Co-author of the book Chained Exploits: Advanced Hacking Attacks from Start to Finish, Jack specializes in voice, data and web system security and teaches nationally for Microsoft, Cisco and Network Security classes to engineers worldwide.
Bright Hub: How can IT Departments keep up the latest threats?
Jack B. Voth: There are numerous podcasts and RSS feeds available from vendors for monitoring to keep a department informed of current and emerging security threats and trends. Seminars, on-going education and trade organizations are also excellent sources. However, considering the speed at which threats can emerge and propagate the most important thing is to have appropriate protections in place and stay current with maintenance processes.
Bright Hub: How do you educate the average employee who is not tech savvy about the security risks? Are offices just going to be much more Big Brother to keep everyone safe?
Jack B. Voth: It is imperative that businesses of all sizes enforce an Internet and IT Acceptable Use Policy (IAUP)for all employees and management. Web and on-site seminars are available for minimal expense and extremely informative on topics relating to how, why and where security breaches happen. Most accredited seminars address the precautions and levels of in depth security that must be implemented and practiced daily with all staff. Management must commit to the policies and enforce them, or the IAUP is only as good as the paper it is written on.
Businesses spend millions of dollars every year on quality Internet connections and IT equipment for business operations. Unless management sets restrictions on staff for personal use, streaming music and video, and "day-lighting" work thru the Internet, the security of corporate data is always in question. The human factor is consistently the weakest link in IT security. If businesses implement strong security measures, it is for corporate data protection.., not to play "Big Brother".