Sponsor: Symantec Corporation

The need for SSL certificates has moved well beyond the “Buy” page to core functions of the enterprise. SSL certificates are used to protect remote employee and partner communications via webmail, chat and IM. Browser-to-server communications for cloud-based services require SSL certificates when used to display customer account information, business partner transactions and for employee productivity tools. Finally, SSL certificates are used to secure server-to server communications for applications and data exchange.

On April 7, 2014, a team of security researchers announced the discovery of a critical vulnerability found in certain versions of the widely used Open SSL cryptographic software library. This bug would become known as “Heartbleed,” and its arrival exposed a serious vulnerability in OpenSSL, allowing attackers to access and read the memory of web servers running vulnerable versions of the library.

Web-based systems are essential tools for running business processes and delivering services to customers. However, phishing and online fraud undermine customer confidence. In addition, Web security remains a top concern because of constantly evolving threats. Strong authentication and authorization technologies are crucial to help companies reduce the risk of unauthorized information access, protect privacy, and increase trust.

Businesses and organizations of all kinds rely on websites, intranets, and extranets to exchange confidential information and enable eCommerce. For businesses, protecting intellectual property as well as customer data in transit is a top priority. Just as important, consumers need to know that they can trust their online transactions.

Businesses are increasingly turning to cloud computing for flexibility, cost savings, and a new range of services offered by cloud vendors. The users of cloud computing services and cloud vendors have a shared responsibility to protect private and confidential information.

Mitigation of the security risks associated with cloud computing involves:

• Protecting data moving into and out of the cloud

• Protecting data at rest in the cloud

• Authenticating servers in the cloud

Symantec has the most comprehensive source of Internet threat data in the world through the Symantec™ Global Intelligence Network, which is made up of more than 41.5 million attack sensors and records thousands of events per second. This network monitors threat activity in over 157 countries and territories through a combination of Symantec products and services such as Symantec DeepSight™ Threat Management System, Symantec™ Managed Security Services, Norton™ products, Symantec Website Security Solutions and other 3rd party data sources.

Symantec has the most comprehensive source of Internet threat data in the world through the Symantec™ Global Intelligence Network, which is made up of more than 41.5 million attack sensors and records thousands of events per second. This network monitors threat activity in over 157 countries and territories through a combination of Symantec products and services such as Symantec DeepSight™ Threat Management System, Symantec™ Managed Security Services, Norton™ products, Symantec Website Security Solutions and other 3rd party data sources.

Businesses are increasingly turning to cloud computing for flexibility, cost savings, and a new range of services offered by cloud vendors. The users of cloud computing services and cloud vendors have a shared responsibility to protect private and confidential information.

Mitigation of the security risks associated with cloud computing involves:

• Protecting data moving into and out of the cloud

• Protecting data at rest in the cloud

• Authenticating servers in the cloud

For those doing business in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore. or in other parts of the Asia Pacific region, privacy is a significant concern. Businesses holding personal data have a responsibility to preserve the privacy and confidentiality of that data. The task is complex, especially in an era of sophisticated, global cyber-crime. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates can help protect data and meet the demands of privacy laws across the region.

With consumers facing a steady stream of news reports about corporate data breaches, major retailers hacked for credit card information, nation-state-sponsored cyber attacks, and the Heartbleed Bug vulnerability in OpenSSl it is understandable if they are hesitant about online commerce. Fortunately, businesses have an opportunity to build trust with potential customer's privacy concerns and implementing controls to protect customer data.

The Symantec Website Security Threat Report gives enterprises, small businesses, and consumers essential information to secure their systems effectively now and into the future. This year’s WSTR covers the wide-ranging threat landscape, with data collected and analysed by Symantec’s security experts.

The total cost of ownership (TCO) of an SSL certificate is far more than just the price of the certificate. From security hardware, to management software, to data centre space and more, the costs of establishing a secure self-signing architecture can quickly add up. Not only that, but a do-it-yourself approach to SSL security may put an organisation at risk – from both technical and business perspectives – in a variety of ways. This paper explores the true TCO for self-signed SSL certificates, including a side-by-side comparison of a self-signed architecture versus working with a third-party SSL vendor. Before a company decides to use self-signed certificates, these issues deserve careful consideration.

Do you know which of your databases, servers and network devices are most vulnerable to hackers? With an intensifying threat landscape and ever-expanding number of mandates to address, having unobstructed insight into your risks is more vital than ever. A vulnerability assessment helps identify critical weaknesses in Web applications, databases, servers and other network devices.

A common trait across successful businesses is their ability to efficiently adapt to the latest trends and processes that have positive impacts to business performance and revenue growth. Here technology trends play a key role in enabling greater business agility. IT organizations can be an innovative adopter of new technologies that quicken the route to market and drive greater market demand for end-user product.

Business-critical applications and the systems they run on must be highly available. A common way to increase application availability in a physical environment is to deploy a traditional high-availability clustering solution. IT administrators can move applications for server maintenance with zero downtime and no data loss. The operating-system isolation that VMware virtualization natively provides makes it simple for a small set of highly consolidated servers to provide very high uptime at reduced administrative cost.