Robert Lemos

Security Services Improve, But Bargains Few

The quality and functionality of third-party security services has improved in recent years, experts say. Unfortunately, the cost of those services hasn't.

Despite the budget pressures caused by a bad economy, most security services firms have not cut their subscription prices, experts say. Although market pressures have driven costs slightly lower than they were five years ago, current prices are more stable, says Jason Hilling, executive for management and service strategy at IBM.

"The costs are not going down significantly with the maturation and saturation of the market," Hilling says, "but companies are delivering more for the same cost."

DarkReading

Malevolent Zeus

It does not take Alex Heid long to break into the website’s database.

With a run-of-the-mill browser and knowledge of a backdoor in the online portal, Heid makes quick work of the software's security and grabs the targeted data: A database of usernames and passwords for a variety of sites and services, from banks to email to Facebook.

Yet Heid is one of the good guys. The website is one of the many set up by a program known as Zeus -- sort of a do-it-yourself cybercrime platform that has become extremely popular for its ease of use and advanced functionality. Zeus allows digital thieves and fraudsters to create code to infect computer systems. It has software to control the legions of compromised computers, and it comes with templates to create and manage campaigns of online crime.

Symantec's YourSecurityResource.com

Cloud Computing: Early Adopters Share Five Key Lessons

While some large enterprises have moved their information-technology infrastructure to a third-party managed service to save costs, small firms—especially startups—have come to rely on cloud services to cut initial outlays and help them focus on the core services and products.

Infrastructure-as-a-service offerings, such as Amazon's Elastic Computing Cloud (EC2), typically are used by larger enterprises to give research-and development groups flexibility in resources. For startups, eliminating the large capital expenditure of a data center at the outset has allowed many to reduce seed money and keep their burn rates that much lower, says Oliver Friedrichs, CEO of antivirus firm Immunet, which launched its first product last August.

"It's a big win for smaller companies to leverage the cloud because you are really saving a lot—it is really avoiding a large, up-front investment," says Friedrichs. "Five years ago, we would have had to build out a data center and the sheer cost of that would have made it much more difficult to launch our business."

CIO.com

Companies Look To Managed Services To Close Security Gaps

As malware and social engineering attacks become more sophisticated, many companies -- especially small and midsize businesses (SMBs) -- are arriving at one conclusion: We need help.

Nearly three-quarters of SMBs cut or froze their security spending last year, despite 71 percent believing a serious attack would put them out of business, according to a recent survey by McAfee. The cost cutting and lack of expertise has led companies to leave themselves vulnerable to sophisticated attacks, says Michael Sutton, vice president of security research for Zscaler, a provider of Web security services.

"I've never had a trial [of the Zscaler service] for a company of 100-plus users where I haven't been able to go back in a week and tell them about infected machines," Sutton says. "That tells me that they do not have adequate visibility into their networks."

DarkReading

Intel, AMD Compete for Data Center Refresh

Processor makers Intel (INTC) and AMD (AMD) are back to tit-for-tat competition in the server market, and data centers looking to replace their computing hardware stand to gain.

Last week, AMD released its Opteron 6100 Series processor, its top-of-the-line server CPU for two- and four-processor systems. A day later, Intel capped its latest line of processors, adding the Xeon 7500 chip as its alpha dog. Both manufacturers argue that companies are ready to buy again and cutting data center costs by consolidating servers makes sense as firms worldwide emerge from a depressed economy.

CIO.com

Hacking the Smart Grid

Components of the next-generation smart-energy grid could be hacked in order to change household power settings or to spoof communications with a utility's network, according to a study of three pilot implementations.

The problems were highlighted in a presentation given last week by security researcher Joshua Wright of InGuardians, a consulting firm with many infrastructure companies among its clients. Vulnerabilities discovered by Wright could let attackers remotely connect to a device or to intercept communications with the managing power company.

The report caused a kerfuffle, and InGuardians has refused to disclose further details. However, one expert familiar with the content of Wright's presentation says that it highlights security problems with many devices.

Technology Review