The Hindu Business Line : Data leakage to become more personal: Websense

Websense says
Took more work to support Microsoft's Vista than XP.
Attacks to extort money online getting more sophisticated.
Legislation needed to stop service providers exchanging contact information.

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Bangalore Feb. 8 Social networking, gaming sites can expect to deal with privacy and security issues on a massive scale this year. Data leakage will also become more personal, warns security firm Websense. "There is no more stupid crime on the Net," said Mr Geoff Haggart, Vice President, EMEA, APAC & Japan, Websense, speaking to Business Line about the year ahead in cyber crime.

"Attacks to extort money are becoming more sophisticated now. They use real events such as natural disasters to con netizens," he added.

Data leakage and theft, even in a small way, could affect lives. It's also time for users to `get personal' with spam. Spam implies your e-mail id is being leaked out and could imply private information is at risk.

Legislation and regulation also needs to be introduced to stop the sale of databases of contact information between service providers, said Mr Haggart.

Insecurity regarding Vista continues. Websense agreed that it has taken them more work to support Microsoft's recently launched Vista operating system than XP (the previous version of the operating system), and that there are a lot of sites that take advantage of the Microsoftplatform's vulnerabilities. Enterprises across the world are taking their time deciding whether to upgrade, said Mr Haggart.

New initiatives

Spend on security products by enterprises in India is way behind the other countries, but is increasing quickly as CIOs learn of attacks. To encourage this, Websense plans to broaden its focus to offer security solutions for SMBs (100-500 users) now.

The package will be easier to install and will have lesser options, policies, support for platforms and yet include sufficient Web threat management. It will be launched by mid-July globally. The company has no plans to enter the consumer segment, nor include India language support.

Websense also offers mobile security with Ericsson, Nortel and Nokia. However, uptake of security in telecom industry, said Mr Haggart, is slow as operators don't find it a compelling business case. This remains a global phenomenon, even as the number of mobile users logging onto the Net rises by leaps and bounds.