Fast, easy access to digital information and the lightening-speed exchange of mission-critical communications can weaken overall business security by increasing the possibility of hacking, viruses, spam and the misuse of corporate information. Consequently, protecting information in the e-world has become a major battle for companies, Internet Service Providers, and Application Service Providers.
The Enemy at the Gateway
According to the International Computer Security Association (ICSA), more than 80 percent of computer viruses enter an enterprise or service provider environment through email, causing thousands of dollars in lost data and productivity time. Typically this is the result of inadequate security measures that leave a business's network vulnerable to attacks. While there are numerous solutions available today that can help protect an organisation from these potential threats, many businesses are unsure what to look for as they build or refine their messaging infrastructures.
One challenge is that with new standards emerging as quickly as messaging technology is evolving, it is difficult to know how to best protect your system now and into the future. Another difficulty has been that many of the solutions available in the past have been costly and cumbersome to deploy. Until recently, system administrators have had to rely on a varied assortment of software patches to handle each security threat. In the case of some viruses, such as the -I Love You," -Melissa" or the -Anna Kournikova" virus, applications were created in response to the threats after they had already contaminated thousands of systems. Now many network administrators are looking for more proactive defenses against these devastating viruses.
One of the main factors involved in the vulnerability of Internet and email systems is that many traditional public domain and commercial email applications run on general-purpose operating systems. Designed to support a wide array of applications, these operating systems provide a many services and open a great many ports. Each of these services and ports is a potential security hole rendering the server vulnerable to attack.
Additionally, general-purpose systems, usually UNIX or Windows NT, are so prevalent in the marketplace that most hackers are familiar with their security flaws. Consequently, hackers find it easy to discover and exploit the system's weaknesses on a massive scale and how to easily get into a server, grant themselves root privileges and cause damage to the system.
