1. I D C E X E C U T I V E B R I E F
Proactive Intelligence Gathering
for Enterprise Protection
August 2010
Adapted from Worldwide IT Security Products 2009–2013 Forecast and 2008 Vendor Shares:
Comprehensive Security Product Review by Brian E. Burke, Sally Hudson, Charles J. Kolodgy,
et al., IDC #221351
Sponsored by Symantec
Stay Ahead of Internet Threats to Protect Business-
Critical Information
Staying ahead of security threats will protect enterprise information
and infrastructure from falling victim to a cyber attack or data breach.
However, instead of leveraging a threat intelligence network, many
organizations are relying upon multiple security products to receive
notifications of new threats and their system vulnerabilities. Not
every security product is integrated with a threat intelligence network,
and in today's mobile environment, just one exposed confidential
asset or record could compromise a business. This Executive Brief
provides an overview of a more effective way to manage security
through the integration and analysis of the global threat landscape.
Cyber Attacks Narrow Their Focus
The need for corporate security has never been greater. The amount
of digital data — powered by globalization, Web access, new
techniques for data gathering and analysis, digital communications,
conversion from paper to digital processes, and increased regulatory
and legal requirements — continues to increase exponentially.
The increasing use of corporate email, Web email, instant messaging
(IM), peer to peer (P2P), and other channels for distributing data,
along with the proliferation of mobile devices that allow employees to
carry sensitive information outside the organization's boundaries,
makes securing information a substantial challenge.
In addition, the digital threat environment is rapidly changing — in
the motives of malware writers as well as in the vulnerabilities they
are targeting. A growing number of malicious programs are exploiting
security weaknesses in Internet browsers. An infected Web page, for
example, can exploit a site visitor's computer remotely without the
visitor even having to physically click on any links; a so-called
"drive-by" attack.
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