And why we have problems

Oct 1, 2007 11:04 GMT  ·  By

Maintaining security isn't exactly what I'd call the easiest thing in the world. There are many threats, as there are approaches. Each expert may have a different opinion on how critical some things are or aren't or on how you could stay better protected, however, everybody agrees that people should be more aware of the threats and more security-conscious overall. Malicious users target the internet for profit, and as long as people make money on the web, so will bad guys, that's why malicious web activity isn't going to stop anytime soon.

As seen on Computerworld's website, Mark Bregman, chief technology officer at Symantec said that enterprises mostly know how to respond to a data breach or data loss but individual users do not. That's a somewhat worrying fact, but what is worse is that as the same expert stated, a normal user's only weapon against data breaches/losses is to go off-line. And I have to agree - there is not much a common user can do.

In addition, Mark Bregman confirmed other experts' opinion in another one of his statements. The basic idea is that hackers are employing smart tactics instead of complicated tools, to get to the same results. Bypassing security software is pretty hard to do, but fooling a human being is something ages old, that people know how to do. As the expert states, for the same site, "To use a physical analogy, they don't try to pick your lock any more because the locks are too good, [instead] they turn up at your door in overalls and say they're from the gas company." So that makes things a bit clearer, in case you had problems understanding the matter.

I've pretty much highlighted the most important parts, but should you want to read all Mr. Bregman had to say, click on this link.