Johannesburg, 06 Jun 2012
“The farther backwards you can look... the farther forward you are likely to see,” said Winston Churchill.
In applying these thoughts to just one small part that the Internet has played, and continues to play in the computer world, it is interesting to see how cloud is used in managing and combating virus activity while taking care to balance computer hardware, software and IT people costs.
Over the years, anti-virus systems have evolved from simple detection and removal of virus programs to intricate security systems coping with protection from millions of attacks per year on a largely unsuspecting computer user. It is important to explain some of the challenges that anti-virus systems are designed to meet in their daily protection of the users' data.
History teaches us that when the pressure is on, change takes place.
The Internet can be safely considered as being one of the biggest changes that has taken place in the world of computing, and with it has come change that we are still battling to comprehend and cope with.
The Internet, especially to the world of virus writers and anti-virus researchers, meant quicker distribution of viruses and also quicker distribution of their respective antidotes (called virus definition updates.) Initially, there were few viruses introduced into the computing world and researchers were able to cope with the volumes, albeit with difficulty in some cases.
As the years have passed, so have the number of known and unknown viruses increased alarmingly. This forced virus researchers to become more innovative in developing ways to block and destroy both known and unknown viruses.
In South Africa, additional challenges were placed on the virus researchers to design the virus definition files that could be distributed on the slow, small and expensive broadband in South Africa. In some cases, computer users are forced to use 3G modems with very slow transfer rates that often cause corrupted data.
Today, firewalls are included to protect the computer from inbound and outbound unauthorised connection attempts. The roving laptop is part of our lives today, and evidence is all around us at airports, coffee bars, etc, so monitoring WiFi connections to protect users is a must.
* Control users' access to Internet and applications with real-time URL filtering and/or allow users access during specified time intervals, or block access to the Internet completely.
* Identify and control downloaded applications such as games, media and messaging software. Monitor keywords and block access to e-mail messages or Web pages that contain inappropriate content or confidential information.
* Blocking Web sites based on their content (tabloids, hate, violence, racism, narcotics, gambling, drugs, alcohol, online shopping, online dating, online payments, to name but a few) is desired.
* Finally, with the onslaught of hackers preying on the greed or false hopes of users by offering millions of rands in exchange for bank details, privacy control is now desirable to protect companies and their employees against data and identity theft.
Anti-phishing protection ensures safe Web navigation by blocking and alerting the user about phishing or other potentially dangerous Web pages to prevent users from disclosing private or confidential information to online fraudsters.
It prevents information leakage like unauthorised disclosure of sensitive data, including customer personal information, names and key details of in-development products and technologies, contact information of company executives, including names, phone numbers, credit card, bank account information, e-mail addresses and so on.
Innovation in anti-virus software is first seen when the cloud installation uses “any computer, not necessarily a server” to download the anti-virus software onto, from a link provided by e-mail. This installation introduces for the first time the same software for different Windows operating systems, and eliminates the necessity to travel to the site to install the software (DVD) and instead the installation is done from the reseller office.
Many South African corporates have branch/franchise operations in remote areas, where the back-office includes only a few computers. The cloud system uses e-mail to send software and the ease of installation from the office is the first step in reducing and easing of IT resources.
Both hardware and software savings are introduced by cloud at the installation stage. When one examines the implications of the initial installation, and one considers the vast distances we have to travel in South Africa between our towns and cities, financial directors will immediately see the savings of costs of travel, airfares, tolls, accommodation, car hire, and time.
Cloud management introduces Web-based management from anywhere, and anytime, 24/7 to view security status of the company, by branch or even down to an individual computer.
One must be careful not to compare the cloud console with remote access control systems, because there are striking differences in security, practicality and efficiencies.
Remote access control, a third-party software system, requires the user to be present to provide the password and ID to the support staff, and to stay and watch the support staff to ensure that they do not access files that they are not authorised to access.
Cloud software does not need the user to be present; in fact, the user computer need not even be switched on! Cloud software only sees the anti-virus software files on the user endpoint and therefore cannot breach security.
In conclusion, no files or software, other than the console that is accessed on the Internet, are stored off the users' network.
The original software and updates are stored with the manufacturer just like they always have been, so cloud security really has been designed to make more efficient use of the Internet.
Holton & Associates is the official distributor of BitDefender AntiVirus Software in South Africa. www.holton.co.za
Share