By Derek Schou, Associate Editor
Cybersecurity is a very real concern for enterprises today.
Websites seem to be under constant attack from hackers. And in some cases, the volume of attacks can be overwhelming. Utah's state government network alone, for example, faces 20 million cyberattacks daily, according to Mark VanOrden, chief information officer and director of Utah Department of Technology Services. In order to stay ahead of attackers, enterprises (regardless of their site or focus) need to be proactive when it comes to protection.
There are a number of different options that businesses can employ to lock down their websites; three popular options come from vendors like SiteLock, Entrust and Blue Coat. Take a closer look at these solutions and discover how they might help your enterprise improve website security.
SiteLock
A website security platform, SiteLock offers a variety of useful tools including its Secure Malware Alert and Removal Tool (SiteLock Smart) and its TrueShield Web Application Firewall (WAF).
The purpose of malware (short for malicious software) is simple: to disrupt and damage computers and the networks they are connected to. Malware is an umbrella term that includes viruses, trojans, worms, spyware and zombies (computers that hackers have complete control of). SiteLock Smart scans subscribers' website code daily and alerts them to any changes that have taken place. If the tool detects any malware it will automatically remove the harmful code.
Another SiteLock tool is TrueShield WAF, which essentially acts as a computer's first line of defense. It protects subscribers' computers by filtering out viruses, hackers and worms that try to infect their computers via the Internet. Additionally, this tool will protect users from The Open Web Application Security Project's (OWASP) top 10 threats.
ENTRUST
For enterprises today, mobile is one of the most important aspects of business. With an estimated 1.75 billion people expected to use a smartphone in 2014 how could it not be? While this additional channel has the potential to boost revenue, it also has the potential to be very costly if something goes wrong. In a study conducted by Ponemon Institute, the research company deduced that the average cost of cybercrime in the U.S. during 2013 was $11.56 million.
One of the ways that IT security company Entrust helps protect mobile users is with IdentityGuard. The tool protects enterprises and users by encrypting emails so that only the recipients with the "public key" can read them. The public key decrypts what the message says and allows the recipient to see the message as the user wrote it.
IdentityGuard also comes with pre-integrated mobile device management (MDM) capabilities which enable enterprises to grant mobile users secure access to their corporate networks.
BLUE COAT
If enterprises elect to go with a more old school approach and opt for a piece of hardware to monitor the health of their websites, then Blue Coat may be the way to go. The security and networking solution provider offers six different versions of its ProxySG appliance, each with a different amount of hard drive (HD) and RAM (Random Access Memory) space.
ProxySG allows users to control Web traffic through methods such as, but not limited to, Web filtering, data loss prevention and user authentication. Data Loss prevention allows enterprises to detect and block data leaks before they start hemorrhaging information. Web filtering enables enterprises to block potentially harmful websites from within their networks that employees are trying to get to. User authentication is a way of identifying the user and verifying that they are allowed access to the network.
There are dozens of options to help fortify an enterprise's website security so choosing the right one will take time, but making sure your business and its customers are safe and secure is worth it.
