Cisco To Enter Big Brother Market

"Integrated Surveillance System is a proposal for fully-integrated surveillance system which leverages Cisco network services on ISR and combines them in a new, smart way to build a security system. With this solution, existing IP phones can be turned on during non-working hours, to monitor any audio signals in the offices. If there are abnormal audio signal patterns, the application notifies external security services or devices such as cell phones, computers, video monitoring systems etc.

"It is a simple and cost effective means to enable a security solution in branch office by leveraging existing network infrastructure. This solution improves manageability of security systems by providing an integrated security framework."

From Cisco...

Network Nazis PWN3D!

"When Metzti Bryan tried to check Facebook at work a few months ago, the familiar white and blue layout of the social networking website didn’t load. Instead, she was taken to a page with a stern message: `This site is prohibited.`

"In the weeks that followed, other sites were added to the blocked list: Twitter, PerezHilton.com and even the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s website.

"Her co-workers were not pleased.

"`There was a big uproar,` said Ms. Bryan, 27.

"But soon after, tempers cooled. It turned out that getting around the restrictions was easy..."

More at The Globe and Mail...

No Comment

"A huge majority of user-generated comments to blogs and forums are malicious, while tools are largely ineffective.

"Websense's biannual `State of the Internet` report revealed that 95 per cent of user-generated comments to blogs, chat rooms and message boards are spam or malicious. Websense Security Labs also identified a 233 per cent growth in the number of malicious websites in the last six months and a 671 per cent growth during the last year.

"Looking at Web 2.0 security trends, the report found that the websites are increasingly being used to carry out a wide range of attacks, and claimed that `efforts to self-police these Web 2.0 properties have also been largely ineffective`.

"The report said: `Websense research during the period showed that community-driven security tools (asking users to report inappropriate content) on sites like YouTube and BlogSpot are 65 per cent to 75 per cent ineffective in protecting web users from objectionable content and security risks.`"

From SC Magazine...

PDF Pwnage Continues Unabated

"Attackers once again are targeting an unpatched vulnerability in Adobe Reader that allows them to take complete control of a user's computer, the software maker warned.

"Adobe said it planned to patch the critical security bug in Reader and Acrobat 9.1.3 for Windows, Mac and Unix on Tuesday, the date of the company's previously scheduled patch release for the PDF reader. According to Security Focus here, attackers can exploit the vulnerability by tricking a user into opening a booby-trapped PDF file.

"`Successful exploits may allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of a user running the affected application,` the security site warned. `Failed attempts will likely result in denial-of-service conditions.`

"The bug is presently being exploited in `limited targeted attacks,` Security Focus added, without elaborating. Adobe said only that the attacks target Reader and Adobe running on Windows operating systems."

More at The Register...

Gartner Smoking Crack Again

"Avatars are creeping into business environments and will have far reaching implications for enterprises, from policy to dress code, behavior and computing platform requirements, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner predicts that by year-end 2013, 70 percent of enterprises will have behavior guidelines and dress codes established for all employees who have avatars associated with the enterprise inside a virtual environment.
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"Avatars are two- or-three dimensional objects that most often resemble a human and are often animated and controlled remotely by a person in a virtual or 3-D Internet environment. In a business setting they are used as visual representations of people.

"`As the use of virtual environments for business purposes grows, enterprises need to understand how employees are using avatars in ways that might affect the enterprise or the enterprise’s reputation,` said James Lundy, managing vice president at Gartner. `We advise establishing codes of behavior that apply in any circumstance when an employee is acting as a company representative, whether in a real or virtual environment. Addendums, specific to virtual environments can be added as required.`"

From Internet Ad Sales...

70% Of Banks Hacked From The Inside

"A former Wachovia Bank executive who had handled insider fraud incidents says banks are in denial about just how massive the insider threat problem is within their institutions. Meanwhile, the economic crisis appears to be exacerbating the risk, with 70 percent of financial institutions saying they have experienced a case of data theft by one of their employees in the past 12 months, according to new survey data.

"Shirley Inscoe, who spent 21 years at Wachovia handling insider fraud investigations and fraud prevention, says banks don't want to talk about the insider fraud, and many aren't aware that it's an `epic problem.`

"`There needs to be more training around this issue,` says Inscoe, who co-authored a book about bank insider fraud called Insidious -- How Trusted Employees Steal Millions and Why It's So Hard for Banks to Stop Them, which publishes later this month. `We are seeing a huge increase in this country of organized crime rings threatening individuals who work in financial institutions and making them [commit fraud on their behalf],` she says."

More at dark reading...

Company Dumps Windows After $40K Hack

"The FBI is helping out the Steuben ARC after overseas hackers stole more than $40,000. Police say the hackers went through an employee's microsoft windows computer system. That worker had access to ARC's bank account.

"Authorities say the crooks were from Eastern Europe and used that information to steal the money. Since then, the Steuben ARC has limited their employee's internet access. They've also switched from a Microsoft operating system to Linux, which is said to be tougher to hack."

From WETMTV.com...