CYBER SECURITY INFORMER - news and tips to help you stay safe online and protect your networkIntelligent Security Tips for Blackberry Smartphone UsersBlackberry devices and other types of smartphones are increasingly popular among companies looking to enable remote access and better productivity for their employees on the move. But what are the security considerations people need to know in order to keep their company and their customer data protected? This week, we spoke with Blackberry Training provider Swirl Solutions about security for Blackberry users. As with security for other kinds of devices, passwords should be a big consideration for Blackberry users, says Swirl Solutions founder Darci LaRocque. "If you're a corporate Blackberry user, using a Blackberry enterprise server, their administrator can push password policies to the devices." But this option is rarely employed among untrained users. Blackberry users can get training to avoid experiences where you lose your Blackberry device at an airport or other public place and whoever picks it up can access your data. "With training, you can be shown how to manually put in a password," LaRocque notes. "People should be doing that." There is also an option to populate owner contact information that shows only when the Blackberry locks. That way, someone who finds a lost device can't get into your data and if it is discovered by a security guard or good samaritan, they can easily contact you to return your device. If you use PIN messaging from Blackberry to Blackberry rather than email, there are other security issues. PIN messages are encrypted, but as the Communications Security Establishment Canada notes, "there is a global cryptographic 'key' that is common to every BlackBerry device all over the world. This means any BlackBerry device can potentially decrypt all PIN-to-PIN messages sent by any other BlackBerry device." RIM advises users to “consider PIN messages as scrambled, not encrypted”. Blackberry users will need training to implement better security by themselves or integrate with administrators, since many users simply don't know about the tools and methods they can use to protect their data. In the next issue of Cyber Security Informer, we’ll be continuing to profile organizations that are helping make the world a more secure place. If your organization is doing its part to build a more secure future by protecting partners, customers, website visitors and application users from cyber crime, contact us today at info@pcis.com Webinar on July 22: Using IT for Competitive AdvantageThis webinar will focus on the approaches and directions applied by business and IT leadership to achieve competitive advantage including stakeholder planning, analysis, design, and development disciplines, and successful implementation of specific technologies such as database-driven portals to achieve business objectives. How to Register Who Should Register: Business owners and executives concerned with improving productivity and streamlining operations through better use of IT solutions. As an additional benefit of signing up for this Case for Security webinar, you will also receive a complimentary subscription to our weekly newsletter, Cyber Security Informer More event information for Using IT for Competitive Advantage Webinar |
July 14, 2009Check out Cyber Security Informer Back Issues Cyber Security Informer is distributed by: Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd. (IT Consulting) Boonbox, a division of PCIS (Security Packaged Services) Toll-free 1.877.744.7558 In this issue:* Intelligent Security Tips for Blackberry Smartphone Users * Webinar on July 22: Using IT for Competitive Advantage * Hacker Bait * Ask A Security Expert Cyber Security Informer provides security news and tips to help organizations protect their business and their customers. Give us your feedback about Cyber Security InformerResources Links:
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Hacker BaitThe latest Hacker Bait list contains highly trafficked websites that have been found to have vulnerabilities that hackers and cyber criminals could exploit. This is not a complete list of all vulnerable sites on the Internet, but only represents websites where vulnerabilities were found within the past 90 days. These are only the latest additions to an ever-growing club of sites found to be insecure according to various public sources and online tools used in the web security industry. If you would like more information on our data and why these sites are listed here, please contact PCIS Hacker Bait Sites With Vulnerabilities Discovered in Past 90 Days
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Ask A Security Expert"I want to use a secure web browser. Is Google Chrome the answer?" As with many things in life, timing is everything. Right now, the Google Chrome browser faces far, far fewer threats than other browsers because it is still relatively new. Hackers haven't had time to develop threats against Chrome on a scale equivalent to the multitude of attack vectors they already use against Internet Explorer or Firefox. And there hasn't been that much incentive, either; just 2 per cent of users have adopted Chrome (TG Daily) But as it matures, this will change. As with Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, the best these browsers' marketers will be able to promise is that security remains a high priority. Chrome does have certain reported advantages (Sitepoint): Chrome is known for its "quick rendering speed, anonymous browsing facilities, and high stability. Each tab is handled by a separate process, so a single page crash does not bring down the whole application." But Chrome's inability to take much market share away from Firefox and other browsers shows users are quite happy with the core capabilities of Chrome's browser-competitors. Which browser you use is almost beside the point. If you keep your browser updated regularly, excercise responsible browsing habits (eg. don't visit sites with known malware issues) and don't download anything that you're not absolutely sure is legit, you'll be more secure. If you would like more information, contact us. |
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Boonbox and Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd.Boonbox is a division of Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd., specializing in products for web security, network security, password management and data backup. PCIS is a Vancouver-based company which provides strategic consulting, application development, technology solutions and managed services to companies and government organizations throughout North America. |
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HOW TO SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE: To subscribe to Cyber Security Informer, send a blank email message with subject line "SUBSCRIBE" to informer@pcis.com UNSUBSCRIBE: If you do not wish to receive future issues of Cyber Security Informer, send a blank email with subject line "UNSUBSCRIBE" to:informer@pcis.com and we will promptly remove you from our distribution list. WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK Our purpose for providing this free service is to keep our clients and business contacts informed of technology developments. This information can help them resolve common problems and achieve their full potential by strengthening their business processes and infrastructure. Your input is important to us and we welcome your ideas for new features and how we can continue to improve our service to you. Send your comments and suggestions to informer@pcis.com or contact us directly at 604.844.7558 |
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