Hack-proof (or close to it) in the cloud era

Sponsored By: Symantec

If WikiLeaks has taught us anything over the last few years, beyond the fact that federal politics is a blood sport, it is that no one in the cloud era is safe from being hacked.

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Hackers are licking their lips as they survey an increasingly wide playing field, one that now includes the new and largely uncharted territory of the cloud. The number of cloud applications is exploding in the emerging “Internet of Things” era, with one of the leading IT research and advisory companies predicting a 225 per cent increase in the number of cloud-connected devices between 2016 and 2020.

Naturally the hacker army, who as a group can never be accused to shying away from a challenge, has come up with new ways of penetrating the defenses of the “clients” they rely on for their daily bread. The problem is that the “way in” for hackers is not by launching broad, direct attacks on the walls that separate them from the corporate data they’re after but by piggybacking on people via their devices, and quietly passing through the security wall of their companies undetected.

Next-gen threat

Today’s hackers are not the pale, surly guys in their mother’s basement from years ago; they are persistent and resourceful, and now more than ever are well funded and part of a highly organized group with its own budget, marketing and payroll. The ambition of these “next gen” hackers has grown as well. No longer satisfied with snatching a person’s credit card or bank account, these individuals are now hitting municipal power grids and taking out entire corporations with childishly basic, zero-cost ransomware attacks.

Enterprises that are fully cognizant of the threat now before them know the traditional means and methods of securing one’s data are no longer effective. Once an organization has come to the point of admitting that it needs help, that in the age of mobile and cloud there are too many possible points of failure to handle alone, it can begin to ask difficult but necessary questions like:

  • How can we make sure our remote and mobile users are not vulnerable to attack?
  • Have we done a good enough job of training our people? Do they grasp the urgency?
  • What is our method for sealing our system against zero-day attacks? Do we have a method?
  • How can we identify and block all known threats from affecting our day-to-day operations?

360-degree coverage

Those who are serious about their security know they need end-to-end protection. They know many hackers have gone from direct attacks on company systems, trying to force their way in, to exploiting users — and specifically their disturbing lack of urgency and knowledge about cyber-security — mainly via search engines, email, and social networking apps.

Symantec’s multi-tiered, cloud-based Web Security Service (WSS) includes advanced analysis techniques to help you identify and neutralize even malware that was specifically engineered to get around detection technology. A key component of this advanced security suite is Symantec’s Malware Analysis Service, which features:

  • Advanced analysis and in-line, real-time file blocking;
  • Sandboxing to neutralize suspicious samples; and
  • Coordination with Symantec’s WSS to delay file delivery until all analysis is complete

“Our malware service is designed to anticipate all threats but to take nothing for granted,” said Ajay Sood, Vice-President and GM of the Symantec Corporation. “In a cloud world, with such a need among enterprises for security that evolves as hacking evolves, as attacks become more and more subtle and unpredictable, we believe we are very well positioned.”

Together with its Web Security Service (WSS), Symantec’s integrated Malware Analysis Service keeps you protected in the face of more numerous and increasingly sophisticated advanced threats. To find out more about the service, click here.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Sponsored By: Symantec

Glenn Weir
Glenn Weir
Content writer at IT World Canada. Book lover. Futurist. Sports nut. Once and future author. Would-be intellect. Irish-born, Canadian-raised.