Thursday, 17 May 2012
Emerging threats in the end user environment
Emerging threats in the end user environment
By SecurityAsia Editors | Jul 21, 2010
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PrintNew social networking technologies, mobile devices and a more flexible and tech-savvy workforce are leading to increasingly complex and diverse end user environments with many greater security challenges, says the Information Security Forum (ISF).
End-users create further security risks
In its recent research, the ISF also found that vast differences in the knowledge, behaviour and actions of end users create further security risks; and believes organisations need to empower employees to take more personal responsibility for protecting critical and confidential information.
Most organisations have many different end user environments, often across physical locations and comprising individuals who use a wide-range of technologies to handle information. These disparate end user environments are subject to factors such as diverse cultures and different operating conditions that make managing information security extremely difficult.
Blurring work and personal boundaries problematic
This problem is further compounded by the variety of corporate-issued and personally-owned devices and a blurring of the boundaries between work and personal computing.
Furthermore, new Generation Y employees entering the workplace typically want to configure their own user environments, installing personal software such as applications for social networking, instant messaging, peer-to-peer networking and VoIP.
“Greater business and personal use of computing and communications and in particular, social networking websites are creating a major headache for information security professionals,” said Mark Chaplin, senior research consultant at the ISF.
“Either deliberately or unwittingly, it is all too easy for end users to share confidential information with unauthorised individuals or corrupt critical information needed to support key business processes. Organisations need to recognise that the information security function cannot provide all the protection necessary without a complete lock down," says Mark Chaplin.
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