Business Technology Roundtable

Security breaches or other unexpected interruptions can happen anytime to anyone -- whether you are a large enterprise or a small business. Fully maintaining communication network security is a demanding responsibility -- and typically not the best use of your limited IT resources, that would be better applied to delivering incremental new business technology benefits to your organization. Fortunately, there are alternatives to a do-it-yourself comprehensive security solution. Skilled managed service providers continue to enhance their network security offerings. AT&T announced the availability of Security Event and Threat Analysis and Security Device Management, two new managed security services available for businesses of all sizes. Customized to Your Unique Business Needs The services enable you to engage AT&T security professionals selectively and simply to provide customized security support. Services range from security event analysis and threat management analysis to ...

My conversation with Jonathan Nguyen-Duy, Director of Product Management for Verizon, ended up being very thought-provoking. We were supposed to talk about a new security offering, a backbone-based solution aimed at stopping Internet-based attacks even before they hit a company's network. (I'd spoken previously to Nguyen-Duy about Verizon's risk-correlation service .) Nguyen-Duy is a fount of knowledge about the changing landscape of international cybercriminals. Verizon is expanding its denial-of-service (DOS) detection and mitigation capabilities into eight network management centers serving 24 countries with new levels of scalability -- in part because of an increase in international cybercrime, according to Nguyen-Duy. "Our customers are telling us that the frequency and complexity of DOS attacks has grown. We're now seeing cyberattacks based on social and political activism. We're also seeing less sophisticated hackers getting access to attack methodologie...

A new report from Forrester Research on the state of IT security at small to midsize businesses (SMB) in North America and Europe predicts ongoing growth in the managed security space. In a result similar to that of enterprise respondents, SMB executives reported that the two top drivers for using managed security services is the demand for a specialized skill set that security requires (cited by 31% of the respondents) and the need to reduce costs (cited by 24%). Other reasons cited for adopting managed security services include: The need to reduce complexity (19%) The need for 24/7 security coverage (19%) The rest of the IT environment is outsourced (5%) Managed Services Tops for Filtering and Monitoring The report also revealed that the top two services SMBs ask from their managed security provider are e-mail or Web content filtering (36%) and network firewall monitoring (33%). Forrester believes that the biggest uptick in the next year, however, will come from increased use of vu...

In the online network connected business environment, security is more critical -- and also more complex. Today, network security requires constant monitoring and management. All businesses now experience vulnerability on an infrastructure that often extends to many locations. Managed service providers can create a comprehensive security offering that enables you to maintain the level of protection and control you require. They can manage some or all of your network security functions -- giving you access to their dedicated manpower, 24-hour safeguarding, as well as routine maintenance and management of disaster recovery. Finding the right security solution for your organization begins with establishing your priorities and becoming informed about alternatives. The following describes typical managed security service offerings, and how you can apply them. Managed Firewall Firewalls protect internal and external networks by restricting the types of network protocols and traffic allowed ...

Managed services provider Verizon Business has added an interesting twist to its security toolbox. Traditionally, managed security services are tactical: they monitor a network for potential attacks, using virus signatures and other definitions. Earlier this month, Verizon upgraded its customers' security capabilities with what it calls its " Risk-Correlation Service ," designed to add strategic insight to security. The RCS works with vulnerability scans -- either those it does for customers or those from vendors such as McAfee, Qualys, and others -- to determine where potential vulnerabilities exist. The service also documents your system to create a map of devices and the business processes that run on them. "It marries threat information with vulnerability information," says Jonathan Nguyen-Duy, Director of Product Management for Verizon. Calculating Risks The result is a Web-based scorecard that shows Verizon customers not only where potential problems exist...