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Sysadmins Say Greatest Network Security Threat is Stupid Users

Posted 07/23/09 at 09:00:31 AM  by Paul Lilly

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Forget about sophisticated attacks and increasingly complex malware schemes, the biggest threat to a company's security might be social networks and the employees who use them.

So says security firm Sophos, who reports that 63 percent of sysadmins worry about employees sharing too much information on Facebook, MySpace, and other social networking portals, ultimately putting their corporate infrastructure -- and the sensitive date on it -- at risk.

"Evidence shows that their worry is justified," Sophos wrote in the July 2009 update to its Security Threat Report. "In June 2009, the personal information belonging to the incoming head of MI6 was exposed to the entire Facebook network, when his spouse allowed members of the 'London' network to view her profile."

Sophos listed several other examples to back the claim, including a MySpace user losing over $210,000 in an email scam after his "Nigerian cyber-pal started asking for money to help her ailing mother."

But Sophos was quick to warn that completely denying access to social networking sites isn't the answer. Doing so runs the risk of driving employees to find a way around the ban, creating an even bigger risk and less oversight by the IT staff.

Image Credit: Sophos

COMMENTS:6
TAGS: network, Security, malware, hacker, Social Networking
COMMENTS
avatarthe best password system

Submitted by DarKarvin on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 4:38pm

find and use a random number/digit generator, make one 51 digits long.

ok, now print it out, and erase all tracks of it.

Now, redo passwords on sites to that digit, starting at different numbers, like facebook = 4th digit, and do at least 8 digits, more is better.When you get to the end, wrap around.

You now have the most secure password.

like, not your dogs name, or house address.

You'd be suprised after useing it for a few months, you'll know the whole thing, getting a lost PW is just starting at different locations.

and very difficult to "crack"

they do that with your home info :p

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avatarThat's a great Idea!

Submitted by billcheese5 on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 5:32pm

OMG, that's an amazing idea! I personally use combinations of different passwords, but thats a great idea for valuable things!

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avatarposted twice :p

Submitted by DarKarvin on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 4:39pm

.........

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avatarlove the title.

Submitted by FRAGaLOT on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 11:17am

If a Furby can pose a threat too national security; so can net noobtards.

 

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avatarSerious Question

Submitted by skirge01 on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 11:13am

Does anyone know of a company which will put together a set of security tests for a corporation's users?  I've been looking, but haven't been very lucky.  I've seen all the ones which are available online, but they either don't cover enough areas (various phishing techniques, different ways to recognize spam, spoofed links, malware, viruses, etc.) or they don't actually show the user what is suspect and why something is unsafe.  Plus, utilizing these freely available tests for a company would almost certainly be illegal.

If you work for a company which does something like this, post a link to your website and I'll check it out.  Please do not post an email address, since I'm not going to simply contact a person without knowing who they work for, which is why I'm also not posting my own email address.

Thanks!

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avatar "there are no stupid

Submitted by nekollx on Thu, 07/23/2009 - 9:34am

 "there are no stupid programs, only stupid people"

------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.

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