Nightmare Network Threats
By: Becky Bracken
The loyalty of your customer, your reputation, your bottom line — all can be destroyed in a matter of seconds by network security vulnerabilities. Security breaches like the all-too-common
distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks can overwhelm networks with fraudulent traffic and lead to service disruption. Thefts of large swaths of customer data are a real, everyday
looming threat and could open up operators to extensive litigation. And worse, interception and penetration of networks have never been easier.
More people and data are traversing your network than ever before, and the opportunities for security breaches are exploding at an exponential rate. Broadly, the first culprits are the
much-hailed next-generation networks (NGN) and their move toward an IP-based open standard, which has opened up and exposed telecommunications networks and the data they hold to the Internet
and the security threats that lurk online. The amount of network real estate accessible by the Internet broadens the level of threat exposure.
Secondly, the sheer number of devices accessing a network increases its vulnerability to attack. Simply put, more devices, more problems. Smartphones, tablets and all of their capabilities
have created efficiency — and services — that continue to evolve to make what was once impossible possible. But the proliferation of smartphones and their applications, not to mention their
“always on” nature, are creating a security nightmare for CTOs at every level. Thanks to those two developments, if you’re in charge of network security your task is bigger than ever. Below
are a few of the specific security threats that should be keeping you up at night.
BYOD
Mobile security is where the cyberthreat action is, and where prudent network-security managers have to keep an eye out. Smartphones have enabled even the least tech-savvy network user to
bring the apocalypse, just as fast as you can say “Angry Birds.”
CTIA CEO Steve Largent warned in October at MobileCON that there is widespread concern about mobile security among IT professionals. In fact 86 percent of those surveyed say they worry about
smartphones on their network and their vulnerability to attack. Now that BYOD uptake is practically feverish, more foreign mobile devices than ever have access to the network. Even if you
think there aren’t unauthorized devices on your network, there are. Now is the time to get serious about policy and network intelligence tools as well as wrangling rebel employees and
devices.
