Sharing Files Securely

How Dropbox can be a danger to your corporate network:

 http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/dropsmack-using-dropbox-to-steal-files-and-deliver-malware/9332?tag=nl.e101&s_cid=e101&ttag=e101

And now Yahoo mail comes with Dropbox built in! Combine the above with this:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/dropbox-yahoo-team-up/?utm_source=nrel&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=nrel

Could it be possible the bad guys have just been handed another tool?

 

After all… Dropbox has had its issues:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/dropbox-convenient-absolutely-but-is-it-secure/5618?tag=content;siu-container

 

It is convenient, there is no doubt. I’ve been asked if I use Dropbox. I often deal in large video files or quantities of photos. Something that convenient would be nice. But only if I could do so securely. The above are good reasons to consider security over convenience. Sure, I’m just sharing photos and videos, but my concern is not that my photos are on the web. I share photos on Flickr, and upload videos to YouTube pretty regularly. My concern in the case of Dropbox is the app that needs to be installed on the local machine. It has the potential to leave a back door open on the local machine, which degrades the integrity of the network. On a business computer this is not acceptable.

I started this blog last week. Today I decided to do some more research of Dropbox and similar systems. I found an article about Novell’s Filr. I’m a firm believer in Novell products – and this one looks like another winner for the enterprise. Filr can be run on multiple platforms, and the files reside on your own servers, where your admin can control the security and see who has access and who doesn’t. Files can still be shared outside the network for 3^rd parties if necessary.

http://news.techworld.com/security/3442669/novells-new-filr-software-offers-secure-alternative-to-dropbox/

Need to share files within your business network or to your customers? Do a little research into the products available before installing anything on the network.  Look for the security features that fit your situation.

So You Are Considering Cloud Services

You’re a small business owner (chances are, if you’re reading this blog that’s exactly why you are here in the first place), and you are considering using a hosted service to manage some or all of your information technology needs. I can understand why you might want to do that. You have a business to run – and all of the productivity issues that come along with that. The last thing you want to spend your time dealing with is Information Technology. Yet, IT is necessary in some form for almost any business anymore. It is a necessary evil for the not-so-technically minded, and even for those who are a little tech-savvy. And a small business might not have the budget to support full-time IT staff. So when a company comes along that offers to host your information, or maybe just provide a particular software package that will make your life easier, it sounds like a great idea.

Phone Data Back up anyone

This weekend I learned a lesson about working on my phone that I’m not likely to forget. My screen broke. The folks at Verizon swear I dropped it. But I know that unless someone came into my house while I was sleeping and swiped my phone off my night stand, dropped it on a concrete floor and put it back… it wasn’t dropped. But that’s irrelevant. I had no phone!

Sophos on a Rollercoaster

It appears that Sophos pushed out an update that has caused it to see software updaters (including its own) as malware infections.  This could be a wild ride – as thousands of computers world-wide are popping up warnings that they are infected and sending users into a panic. Network administrators are busy answering phones and trying to calm down users, while not able to get a line IN to Sophos, as all their lines are swamped.

Eleven Years Later - 9/11/01

I began my journey into the IT world in 1999. From the beginning I had my sights set on Information Security. In 2000 I was working for an IT services company and found myself encouraging my employer and our customers to consider information security and business continuity initiatives.

The Case For Putting Eggs in Multiple Baskets

Today hundreds of small businesses experienced web site outages. Go Daddy, the most popular domain registrar/web hosting company, saw its DNS servers attacked after 10AM Pacific time. The alleged attacker claimed to be working alone, to have taken down the entire Go Daddy DNS array and that he wanted to test the cyber security. DNS servers on the web are what translate the name of a web site (such as www.godaddy.com) to the numerical address assigned to it. Find a more detailed explanation of DNS here

You’ve Been Hacked?

Yes, it can happen. It’s almost inevitable. So what can you do to prepare for the discovery that your systems have been successfully compromised? What plans should you have in place for communicating with law enforcement? Do you collect financial information from your customers? If you do, you must have a plan in place for notifying them of a breach.