#whitehat security

How critical is securely going down all your computerized property—photographs, reports, recordings, monetary records, programming, informal organization recognitions, et cetera? Envision for a minute losing the majority of that individual data to the wilds of nature following a catastrophic event, for example, a sea tempest, surge or seismic tremor.

What might you do? You've spent a lifetime up to now settling on choices on an everyday premise on what messages, pictures, records, notes, recordings and applications to keep; to what extent would it take to supplant the majority of that property completely? In the event that you said another lifetime, that would be legitimate.

In any case, you don't have another lifetime. Begin going down all that you make now, in the event that you haven't as of now. Life happens, and you truly don't need something out of your control happening to all your own advanced property. Organizations have calamity recuperation procedures; so should people.

Every year right now eWEEK searches out counsel and points of view from individuals it regards in the capacity business. Here are their remarks about World Backup Day 2018, March 31:

Nexsan:

“In 2018 backup and information recuperation is basic, and it's insufficient for it to just, well, go down. Advanced alternatives like chronicle stockpiling arrangements can dispense with information misfortune and also give included layers of security from altering, debasement and ransomware – business necessities in the present danger scene. Document stockpiling can likewise enable drive to cost and execution benefits by taking into account more prominent long haul maintenance of information. A completely far reaching information backup system ought to incorporate business coherence, information assurance and upgraded security includes over quick and proficient stockpiling.” - Gary Watson, CTO and Author, Nexsan

Zerto:

“For some, World Backup Day likely brings out contemplations of "gold duplicates" buried in a protected place holding up to be recovered when something turns out badly. Notwithstanding, this shortsighted illustration gives a false representation of the way that answers for these circumstances are regularly mind boggling and agonizing to execute, especially at the venture level the same number of associations are experiencing significant IT changes.

Actually, arranged and impromptu disturbances are just on the ascent, some of the time as a result of the appropriation and advancement of the most recent innovation. The merging of these elements will expect organizations to look outside conventional backup capacities and build up an IT strength system that is up to the numerous difficulties of computerized change.

To convey a dependably on client encounter, particularly while experiencing significant changes to a foundation, organizations need to guarantee they have a cutting edge, chance free stage set up, that uses constant information assurance joined with the capacity to arrange and mechanize the portability of uses to the perfect framework. At the point when these capacities meet up, organizations will have an IT versatility system to ensure their foundation and notoriety, and furthermore empower development and change.” - Ransack Strechay, SVP Item, Zerto

WhiteHat Security:

"Research by Ponemon in 2017 demonstrates that the normal aggregate cost of an information rupture came to $3.63 million, with a 28.8% possibility of the probability of a repeating material information break throughout the following two years. With the over-burden of information being made by gadgets and applications, that number will take off finished the following couple of years. In any case, what can organizations do to secure their advanced business? They can proactively address the security test, and World Backup Day can be the ideal update for people and organizations to secure the applications that are the soul of their business: move down, fix up, and remediate vulnerabilities.

We recently contracted the #1 security auditor on the market, Whitehat Security, to run constant security audits and scans. 

We are since been approved as 100% secure and certified as PCI (payment card industry) compliant. 

by officePROhub.com on 01/10/2012 - 04:56 pm

Tags: Printers, software and programs

January 10, 2012 By Charles Costa

    With the rise in the numbers of identity theft and hack attacks on numerous corporate websites, website security has become one of the hottest internet-related topics for consumers and businesses alike. Despite the validity of the topic, however, as with anything with a huge demand, a new breed of scams geared towards business owners have sprung up and grown through marketing tactics analogous to a mafia shakedown for “protection.”

While many online merchants are familiar with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Scanning – the industry standard of security for e-commerce –  “trust seals” have recently sprouted as a more attractive security measure. By promising to increase conversions, and also providing a false sense of security, many business owners have fallen victim to the services.

Although PCI scans are required quarterly for virtually any merchant accepting credit cards online, trust seals have gained appeal because they give the illusion of ongoing security audits at a fraction of the cost of a security firm retainer. Additionally, many services also include an icon boasting the site as being “hacker proof,” which in theory increases shopper confidence. While PCI scan packages start around a couple hundred and go up to over a thousand, the trust seal vendors push their plans from as little as $4/month to $50/month.

Although such alternatives might sound attractive, in reality it is a case of “buyer beware” since most of them are snake oil as they do not conform to industry standards. Rather, many of them are poorly coded programs, which aside from providing a false sense of security, also can get your website blacklisted by your webhost, or even lead to security breaches.

For insights into reputable scanner products offered by professional “white hat” hackers – industry jargon for good guy hackers – I interviewed Bill Pennington, chief strategy officer at WhiteHat Security, to gain information on how legitimate scanners check for vulnerabilities.

Before continuing, a quick note is in order:  There is no such thing as a fully secure website, and while having an expert promise invincibility against hackers, such promises should always be red flags, which cause you to turn the other way. Additionally, depending on where you host your website, your host might already handle PCI scanning on your part, meaning that you don’t have to pay an additional fee for scanning unless you have a significant reason to justify the investment.

Before picking a security vendor, especially as a small business, it is best to contact your web host and ask if their servers are PCI compliant. For the most part, unless you are running your own hardware, the host will say they do handle the PCI compliance on your behalf. Additionally, if you happen to be running a dedicated server, or you collocate (meaning you fully control the hardware), you might be able to get scanning at a discounted rate.

As PCI vendors such as Comodo, McAfee, and others charge sums from $250 to over $1,000 per package, contacting your host can save you from paying for services already provided to your company.

Going back to Whitehat Security, sometimes it pays to have additional audits done to ensure the integrity of your website. Although PCI covers a significant part of website security for the average merchant, audits typically occur quarterly instead of in real time, and they are limited to a fairly generic overview of the “average” way businesses sell items online. If you have a heavily customized system, a high volume site, or your company is the target of opposing groups, retaining a security provider might be worth the investment.

In my interview with Pennington, I asked how an automated scanner stacks up to their services. As a very simple analogy, automated scanners are similar to how Google and other search engines scan sites. If they hit a password protected page or form requiring human intervention (such as a checkout process, registration, etc) the scanners are immediately thrown off. Additionally many automated scanners are “dumb,” meaning that some tests can flood your company email accounts and databases with thousands of dummy records, plus in some cases your web host might shut your site down due to a false hacker alert from the tests.

In contrast to the automated scanners, Pennington discussed how most white hat security firms have expert teams who handle the majority of auditing, and when it comes to automated portions, they monitor the numbers of errors so if a section is breached, rather than constantly hammering it, they choke off that specific test.

Additionally, while automated scanners can bring down websites due to hogging resources, Whitehat and most other reputable firms employ intelligent automation, which ensures it is friendly for up and running websites, so that business can continue while testing occurs. Additionally, for online stores, experts check the forms by hand since it currently is not practical for computers to fully process an entire checkout process.

For readers who are wondering the price of WhiteHats’ services – for their small business plan, they start at $1,200 a year or $100 a month. While this fee is much higher than the average trust seal, if your company has a significant need for security, the price is a small one to pay for peace of mind.

Additionally, the majority of reputable web hosts out there will already handle the majority of security for you, however the key piece of information to keep in mind is that when shopping for a security firm – if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is, and also if something is fully automated chances are the service is ineffective. Also, when it comes to PCI scanners, make sure your vendor of choice is on the official list of approved PCI scanners.

About Charles Costa