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Posted on May 19, 2012 in IT Security News
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Read MoreCERT-In handled 13000 cyber attacks in 2011: Govt
Posted on May 19, 2012 in IT Security News
NEW DELHI: Signalling an increasing trend in cyber security incidents, the government said its agency Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has handled over 13,000 such incidents in 2011 compared to 8,266 incidents in 2009.
“CERT-In has observed that there is significant increase in the number of cyber security incidents in the country. A total of 8,266, 10,315 and 13,301 security incidents were reported to and handled by CERT-In during 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively,” Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
These security incidents include website intrusions, phishing, network probing, spread of malicious code like virus, worms and spam, he added.
Operational since 2004, CERT-In is the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents as and when they occur.
As per information available with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a total 966 cases of cyber crime reported under Information Technology Act, 2000 in 2010, Pilot said.
The data showed that a total of 288, 420 and 966 cyber crime cases were registered under the IT Act during 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), a total of 176, 276 and 356 cyber crimes were reported during 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively, he said.
In response to a separate query, Pilot said 1,193 people were arrested in the country in 2010 under the IT Act.
The offences included tampering computer source documents, hacking, obscene publication in electronic form, unauthorised attempt to access protected computer systems, breach of confidentiality, publishing false digital signature certificate among others, he added
Article source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/enterprise-it/security/CERT-In-handled-13000-cyber-attacks-in-2011-Govt/articleshow/13296424.cms
Read MoreCar bomb explodes near security agencies in Syria – Chicago Sun
Posted on May 19, 2012 in IT Security News
ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 19, 2012 3:46AM
In this citizen journalism image provided by Sham News Network SNN, an anti-Syrian regime protester, holds up a Cross and Crescent painted with colors of the Syrian revolution flag during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar Assad, at the Damascus suburb of Yabroud, Syria, Friday, May 18, 2012. Syrian security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands rallying Friday in Aleppo in what activists said was the largest protest yet in a city that has largely remained loyal to President Bashar Assad during the country’s 15-month uprising. (AP Photo/Sham News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO
Article Extras
BEIRUT (AP) — A strong explosion shook Syria’s eastern city of Deir el-Zour Saturday, apparently targeting a security agency in the latest of a wave of blasts to hit the country in recent months, state media and opposition activists reported.
State TV said a car bomb caused casualties and severe damage to residential and state buildings nearby. The pro-government Ikhbariya TV said the blast happened inside a parking lot connected to a military complex.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the explosion, which it also identified as a car bomb, took place near where the city branches of the Military Intelligence Directorate and Air Force Intelligence are located. Amateur videos posted online showed thick black smoke hovering over the city.
Security agency compounds in several Syrian cities have been targeted by a wave of explosions in the past months. The blasts raise fears that al-Qaida-linked Islamist militants, possibly including fighters from neighboring Iraq, have made strong inroads into Syria’s rebel movement.
The most recent bombing targeted an intelligence building in Damascus on May 10. It struck during morning rush hour and the high death toll — some 55 people — made it the deadliest such attack since the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began in March of last year.
Some of the tactics used in Damascus — a small blast drawing attention prior to a larger one — were reminiscent of al-Qaida attacks during Iraq’s insurgency.
Deir el-Zour is about 60 miles from the Iraqi border. Saturday’s blast came a day after the state-run news agency SANA reported that authorities foiled an attempt to blow up a car rigged with explosives in the city and detained those involved.
On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he believes that “alarmingly and surprisingly,” al-Qaida must have been behind the May 10 attack in the Syrian capital.
“The recent terrorist attacks in Damascus suggest that these attacks were carefully orchestrated,” he said. “Having seen the scale and sophistication of these terrorist attacks, one might think that this terrorist attack was done by a certain group with organization and clear intent. I have strongly condemned these terrorist attacks.”
Article source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/12633838-418/car-bomb-explodes-near-security-agencies-in-syria.html
Read MoreCisco's wireless unit shifts emphasis to "mobility"
Posted on May 18, 2012 in IT Security News
Cisco’s Wireless Networking Business Unit doesn’t actually talk so much about wireless networking these days. Increasingly, its message aimed at IT groups is about the broader concept of “mobility.”
The change, not only for Cisco but its rivals, reflects the fact that mobile workers are no longer focused simply on replacing an Ethernet cable with a Wi-Fi signal and being able to carry their corporate laptop to the conference room. The real question has become: what can they, and the company, and the company’s customers, now do once they’ve made that replacement?
“Connecting a device to my corporate network is just step one. The question is: what happens after that?”says Sujai Hajela, vice president/general manager of Cisco’s wireless networking business unit, who spoke with Network World this week regarding Cisco’s announcement of three new pre-tested bundles of products and services designed to cut through the confusing complexity of enterprise mobility.
The new Smart Solutions packages are by themselves not exactly new: they’re formed of existing Cisco hardware and software, third-party partnerships, and consulting services from Cisco or its partners. But Cisco says they represent a shift in the company’s thinking about how to deploy mobile technology for businesses. Instead of a grab bag of separate products, the new approach sees mobility, in effect, as a whole that’s greater than the sum of its many parts, including devices, operating systems, apps, Wi-Fi access points, VPNs, authentication and security. The overarching enterprise benefit, according to Cisco, is summed up in a new term, “Cisco Unified Workspace.”
BACKGROUND: Cisco mobility bundles target BYOD, mobile virtual desktop
SLIDESHOW: 15 more useful Cisco websites
“Enterprises are looking at the next generation of users coming into their ranks,” says Tim Zimmerman, principal analyst for network services and infrastructure with market watcher Gartner. “Most of them don’t even know what an RJ-45 plug is. The iPad doesn’t even have one. There’s a presumption of wireless connectivity [being available anywhere, anytime]. That puts more responsibility on IT organizations to manage that.”
Cisco’s main challenge in the enterprise market, he says, is execution and optimization – in effect, turning PowerPoint slides of talking points into concrete capabilities that enterprises buy into and then buy to mobilize business.
Cisco still dominates the enterprise wireless LAN landscape, but its dominance is less complete than it was a few years ago. By revenues, Cisco’s share of the total worldwide market for enterprise WLAN equipment is now about 50%, down from the more than 60% it commanded for years, according to IDC. Its nearest rival, publicly held Aruba Networks, finally broke into a double-digit share of global revenues only last year, capturing 11.5% according to IDC.
Cisco continues to invest heavily in radio frequency technologies, leveraging its own Wi-Fi chip designs with Cisco-developed, on-chip code to boost signal reliability and consistency, and throughput. The focus is less on raw chip-level data rates, though that’s important, and more on optimizing the connection to provide the reliability, security and throughput of a wired Ethernet link.
Cisco’s Hajela, who formerly ran Motorola’s WLAN group and came over to his current job at Cisco in August 2011, sometimes sounds like a network version of Dr. Phil. “More and more of our messaging is about customer ‘care-abouts,’” he says at one point. And at another point, “The end user is looking for an uncompromised experience, regardless of the network” connectivity.
These bromides actually mean something, and Hajela becomes specific and insistent when pressed. “The network doesn’t matter to the user,” he says. “What he wants is to be able to use his app wherever he is.”
And that use must be optimal. “If my device and my network connection supports high-def video, then I should get high-def video,” he says. “And if I’m using a smartphone, I should get optimal battery life. These things should be handled by intelligence placed in the network.”
Cisco’s job is to cram more and more intelligence into the networks and applications and infrastructure that supports the enterprise’s mobile users and mobile business.
“What’s really resonating with enterprise IT is this: the system looks at who the user is, and what he’s trying to do, rather than how he’s connecting” by wire or wireless, Hajela says.
Cisco’s Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a key part of this approach, identifying and authenticating users regardless of how they connect, and adjusting their access and security privileges based on variables such as their location, connectivity, and time of day. [See "Cisco enterprise management tools take on new network realities".] Tightly integrated with ISE is Cisco Prime Network Control System (NCS), which replaced the standalone Wireless Control System management application for Cisco WLANs, and creates single console for managing both wired and wireless.
The need for such an approach “just plain makes sense,” commented Network World wireless blogger Craig Mathias in a post about NCS. “Along with [unified]security and integrity comes a fundamental need to handle the ever-increasing capacity demanded by an ever-growing population of wireless users with equally-demanding applications,” he wrote. “A single-pane management console adds convenience, lowers cost (Cisco points out that generalists with the right tools can be just as productive as more-expensive specialists), and just plain makes sense….”
Cisco isn’t the only WLAN supplier taking this unifying or converging approach, as Gartner’s Zimmerman points out. “We see this in HP, in Aruba, which is now offering a [LAN] switch ] along with end-to-end, multivendor support,” he says. “Vendors are addressing the multiple elements within this infrastructure layer.”
The reality is that Cisco faces a rapidly changing enterprise mobile environment, and enterprise customers have plenty of options. Earlier this month, Aruba announced that Texas AM University, a major Cisco shop, is replacing its existing Cisco WLAN with Aruba’s products, after extensive testing. The school will eventually install 6,000 to 7,000 Aruba 802.11n access points, along with Aruba’s AirWave wired/wireless network management application.
John Cox covers wireless networking and mobile computing for Network World.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnwcoxnww
Blog RSS feed: http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/2989/feed
Read more about anti-malware in Network World’s Anti-malware section.
Article source: http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/425025/cisco_wireless_unit_shifts_emphasis_mobility_/?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=sectionfeed
Read MoreRed River Achieves Advanced Borderless Network Architecture Specialization from Cisco
Posted on May 18, 2012 in IT Security News
CLAREMONT, N.H.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Red
River, a widely recognized national leader in providing IT products
and services to government and healthcare sectors, today announced that
it has met the criteria to achieve Advanced Borderless Network
Architecture Specialization from Cisco.
The Cisco
Borderless Network Architecture is the technical architecture that
allows organizations to connect anyone, anywhere, anytime and on any
device – securely, reliably and seamlessly, according to Cisco. It is
the foundation for the Cisco Intelligent Network, providing
optimization, scale and security to collaboration and virtualization.
The architecture is built on an infrastructure of scalable and resilient
hardware and software. Components of the architecture come together to
build network systems that span organizations, from network access to
the cloud.
“Before the emergence of cloud computing, a worker would interact with
his or her networks from one device in one location,” said Dave Levin,
Red River’s senior director, Partner Operations. “Today, workers are
using multiple devices from multiple locations, yet they still expect
the same responsiveness and security of traditional networks. Cisco
borderless networks are a response to that changing dynamic of
anytime-anywhere access.”
As part of this Cisco Specialization, Red River has fulfilled the
role-based training requirements and program prerequisites to sell,
design and deploy Cisco Borderless Networks Architecture solutions in
the U.S. Recognition of this achievement will be noted on the Cisco
Partner Locator site, at www.cisco.com/go/partnerlocator.
“Red River is now well-positioned to sell and implement Cisco borderless
networks,” Levin added. “However, the preparation and training we
engaged in to earn our new Cisco Specialization – which involved a
larger percentage of our technical staff – has made great strides to
prepare Red River more broadly as a company to offer borderless networks
solutions to our clients.”
About Red River
Red River was founded on the core values of hard work, honesty, modesty
and the desire to always lend a helping hand. Red River is proud to
serve the government and healthcare sectors by providing technology
products and services. We pride ourselves on our ability to help our
customers leverage the latest technologies to optimize business
processes and maximize the value of their IT investments. Combining an
uncommon work ethic with exceptional customer service enables Red River
to deliver performance beyond expectations to its customers and
suppliers. For more information please call 800-769-3060, or visit www.redriver.com.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems Inc.
in the United States and certain other countries.
Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/red-river-achieves-advanced-borderless-135300288.html
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