Cyber-crime is booming and costs the UK economy an estimated £27bn per year, according to a joint report from the Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance and Detica.
Attacks come in many guises ranging from denial of service to the latest generation of compound attacks using spam, phishing and malware.
With the cyber security landscape constantly evolving, the Infosecurity Europe show promises be the number one destination on April 19-21 for all IT professionals and security specialists. London’s Earls Court Exhibition Centre will play host to hundreds of exhibitors plus there will be a wealth of educational, sessions and debates to choose from.
The morphing of business into a series of virtual, linked enterprises that can no longer be protected by one security perimeter is the challenge being ushered in by cloud computing and mobile working. The Keynote Theatre promises to be an exciting stage where security gurus, end users and suppliers meet to debate the big issues.
Presenters from Centrica PLC, Clifford Chance LLP and the SOK Corporation also line up to discuss the optimum information security policy. In another debate, a panel including David Smith, deputy commissioner and director of Data Protection, Interpol, Capita Group and Nottingham County Council assesses the intricacies of data protection and compliance.
Budgeting for security during an austerity era is a topic that is be on everyone’s lips, public or private sector. Panellists from the NSPCC, Electronic Arts and The Oval Group feature in the session, ‘The Economics of Security - Can You Cut Your Budget and Bolster Security?’ and discuss how to cope with budget cuts of up to 30%.
But it is the role of the user, both as threat and security protagonist that is the hottest topic of debate at this year’s security expo. An organisation’s workforce can be its greatest asset in combating cyber crime: With the right training and appropriate risk management, users can be the multiple eyes and ears of an organisation and complement its IT security infrastructure.
Conversely, it can pose a significant threat – albeit unwittingly - especially given the increased use of employee-owned devices in the workplace and the explosion of social media. Nor can any security professional ignore the possibility of the pernicious employee. It’s well documented that the gravest threat comes from within an organisation more often than from outside.
User-centred solutions are now also arriving on the security scene. A data loss prevention technique will be previewed by security supplier, Titus and Paternoster, an insurance company that handles the personal data of some 44,000 pensioners. It identified email and documents as potential points of accidental data loss. “Losing names, addresses and other personal data is a major business risk”, says Elliot MacInnes, head of IT at Paternoster.
To check out user-centred security and other bleeding-edge approaches, products and debate, visit Infosecurity Europe.
