I thought after all the commotion from the many significant data breaches of the past several months that data security would be top-of-mind at nearly every company. Perhaps people outside the information security industry have become tired of the breach news, or perhaps the lesson didn't sink in. Maybe more likely is the ... Read More

For a long time in computer security, we have been focused on protecting workstations, and rightly so.  Viruses, worms, remote access Trojans, and other malware has targeted the end-user workstation, and unfortunately, the attacks continue to be quite successful.  A number of recent high-profile data leaks have occurred using workstations ... Read More

Something that hasn't been top-of-mind for me, but remains a threat nonetheless, is that the scope of the "insider threat" changes when the cloud is used for computing and storage.One of the significant data loss vectors is the "insider threat" where a trusted insider -- either unintentionally or maliciously -- ... Read More

Since Data Loss Prevention (DLP) became a known technology in the computer security arena a few years ago, a number of vendors of existing non-DLP security products added basic DLP-like features to enable detection of some common private or confidential information.  However, a complete DLP implementation involves more than just ... Read More

Data can be stored in so many places and be so vulnerable to loss or exposure.  The obvious risk and probability of loss for protected data stored on devices like laptops often motivates security staff to make improvements in this area.  Many people have an "a-ha moment" when they see ... Read More

A couple of months ago, I talked about the implementation of DLP in cloud computing environments.  Since then, I have seen a few examples of how security-oriented firms are working with cloud computing vendors, such as Tripwire, enStratus, and others working with cloud vendors to provide internal compliance and validation.Meanwhile, ... Read More

When I talk or write about inappropriate confidential information disclosure, I often point out that data loss prevention (DLP) systems most commonly help reduce the everyday mistakes by well-intentioned employees just trying to do their jobs. A DLP system also helps discover a malicious insider gathering or passing confidential information ... Read More

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) systems have to deal with a variety of formats of data and identify protected data in those formats.  In general, protected information falls into these formats:Unstructured text - as found in text documents - including various types of information:Corporate proprietary information or trade secretsPersonal health recordsPersonal ... Read More

A Bloomberg report over the weekend referenced an unnamed source as saying that Amazon cloud resources were used in the breach of the Sony Playstation Network.  Specifically, Amazon's cloud infrastructure was not compromised, but instead used as a "relay" for the attacker to hide his/her origin.An article on Reuters makes ... Read More

Well, it had to happen to me eventually.  A physical server running VMware ESXi crashed and I lost a set of virtual servers that I had moved to it.It seemed to result from a power hiccup.  Nearly everything important in the server room is on a UPS, except for this ... Read More