Achieving Internal Security

摘要

It wasn't too long ago that external IT security threats were the main concern for organisations and the internal network was perceived as a relative haven of calm. However, times have changed drastically and inner peace is no longer something that can be taken for granted, in fact quite the opposite. Today, more than ever, attacks are being targeted at enterprise endpoints in an attempt to gain access to the internal network. The reason behind this, is that defences are most often at their weakest at this point. This is not through any coincidence; the sorts of attacks we're talking about are often targeted for financial gain. The methods being used are also highly sophisticated and vary, depending on the desired effect. Moreover, these new attacks are designed to go completely undetected through traditional desktop anti-virus and firewall solutions, rendering them useless. Whether it is a worm carrying a potentially lethal payload that can grind networks to a halt, or a Trojan depositing a keylogger or spyware which send passwords or sensitive information back out of the organisation, the threat is clear and present.