Attacking the Web

Network security is still a strong driver for IT spending in India, as
security does not cease, not even during recession. In fact, during a recession,
companies view security as even more important due to the increased market
competition and blended threat scape.

The large spike of activity observed between
September-November 2009 was a familiar trend to that of 2008, when the first
large wave of scareware hit cyber space. Scareware was also a major component
detected during this wave in 2009, though overall volume had significantly
increased to record levels over 2008.

As we are already in 2010, the rest of the year should see
organizations focusing well on security, as the recent security attacks in the
world (with a recent dose of Gumblar attacks in Japan) do echo a strong need for
both the private and public sectors looking back at their security set-up.
Security, particularly network security, is one fundamental area of technology
that enterprises and governments alike cannot neglect.

The Primary Route

The web is now primary route by which computers get affected, mainly due to the
fact that increasing numbers of organizations have secured their email gateways.
As a consequence, cyber criminals are planting malicious code on websites. These
codes simply lie in wait, and infect visiting user computers. The industry has
witnessed sophisticated threats: cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection,
zero-day exploits.

Increase in the number of networked portable devices and
extensive usage of network on a day-to-day basis are resulting in increased
vulnerabilities.

In recent years, the number of threats spread via email
attachment has declined. Social networking websites are used to spread malware.
Identity theft-hackers have found value in compromising user accounts, and then
using the profiles as a launching pad for mass distributing malware attacks and
spam.

Some of the methods cyber criminals used effectively were
the use of fake anti-virus software, also known as scareware or rogueware. Such
attacks prey on IT security fears and unaware users into believing their
computer has a problem when it has nothing of that kind.

The Three Trends

Some of the trends witnessed in network security in recent times are:

UTM's: Beginning with IPS and firewall services, the
security market and fast adopting Indian customers now show a drift towards
overall network security services like UTMs. Following the trend the security
market will be dominated by UTM products.

End-to-end Security: Not only at the gateway level, but
right up to the end point as the end point is the weakest link. In many cases,
computers outside company's security are the weakest links. These computers are
often infected with worms and spyware, presenting an opportunity for attackers.
Enterprise security is no longer confined to external threats alone, internal
incidents of data loss are on the rise and enterprises need to seriously
evaluate the impact of such incidents.

Multifunctional Router: Hybrid VPN demand is stronger than
ever. Its annual revenue would be even greater than double within four years.
With technology evolution, such as 3G and IPv6; and technology convergence,
including WiFi, security, and triple-play, etc; brings traditional router into
another level of 'services router'.

Green Security Solutions

There are multiple product vendors who offer 'green' approach in their
solutions. Consolidation and virtualization have been the key approach for these
vendors and they offer critical services based on this. 'Security as a service'
also has been adopted by multiple vendors, who now also offer services directly
through their virtual solutions. These are environment-friendly solutions, and
at the same time meet customer's requirements. The concept of 'green data
center' and 'DC as a service' are based on these solutions and frameworks
offered by these vendors. This has created increased interest in the CXO
community and more enterprises are now opting for these solutions.

Growth Drivers

Increased mobility, Internet, and web 2.0 have been adding to the
vulnerabilities of organizations of all sizes. IT networks are continually
growing, more applications are becoming web-enabled, threats are turning more
sophisticated and regulatory requirements are demanding adherence to complex
requirements and procedures-all this making security a complex issue. This has
resulted in rising awareness for the need of an integrated security solution in
India among both SMEs as well as enterprises as corroborated by leading analysts
and research groups across the security industry.

Network perimeter is evolving with more entry and exit
points emerging in the network architecture of any organization. While earlier,
firewalls and IDP solutions did the job of securing the gateway, today
organizations need a more encompassing security solution that protects them
against blended attacks on their extended perimeters.

Enterprise & Challenges

Carriers and enterprises of all sizes are facing an increasingly
sophisticated blended threat scape, with threats coming from beyond the
traditional network perimeter. One of the key challenges is increase in database
attacks to steal information, as enterprises look for ways to protect their
databases from both external and internal breaches.

Another significant one includes the need to protect the
network against web 2.0 centric threats, as the definition of 'network' expands
and the popularity of social networking sites and in-the-cloud computing (such
as SaaS) rises. This drives a greater need for web application firewalls and
data leakage prevention mechanisms to prevent employees from bringing back
tainted data and inadvertently releasing proprietary information.

Another need is that of enabling 10GbE security protocols
to work at the speed of the network, as it is essential for maintaining the
integrity of high-speed networks, which also, allows threats in the network to
increase, as the good, bad and ugly find their way into enterprises.

Finally, carriers and large enterprises also face 3G
driven threats, as smartphones continue to rise in adoption rates. 3G networks
enable operators to offer more advanced mobile services and also presents more
opportunities for virus infections, hence presenting the need for better
security.

Upcoming Trends

In the security space, each challenge brings in more opportunities for
vendors in 2010.

Information-centric security will be necessary in the next
decade as access to data will continue to evolve outside the traditional
network. The definition of 'network' has moved much beyond the traditional LAN
to encompass distributed networks, cloud-based networks, social-media networks,
wireless networks, virtual networks, etc.

Data now needs to protect itself via a networking
infrastructure that positions a security control at every data touch point or
internal network segment rather than just at the perimeter. Information-centric
security is a more granular, intelligent and multi-layered security approach
that guards against penetration of the entire network through the weakest point
in the armor.

Adoption of cloud based services will create many
opportunities for data infection or theft. Securing the cloud will be hotter
than ever in 2010 as more and more companies adopt services such as storage for
rent, software as a service, virtual IT, and application hosting.

The concept of protecting data-at-rest vs data-in-motion
comes into play, forcing organizations to examine various security mechanisms to
secure their data, including encryption, SSL inspection, data leakage
protection, anti-virus among others.

A natural evolution with the trend in consolidating
network devices is to integrate more network functionality into security
devices.

Moving into 2010, additional consolidation of network
services will find continued acceptance with budget-conscious customers.
Switching and VoIP capabilities might be other network services to be integrated
into consolidated security devices in the future.

Akhilesh Shukla

akhileshs@cybermedia.co.in