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Friday | 5 December, 2008
CIO
The 10 Most Common Internal Security Threats
Who’s gaining access to your internal network? New criminal tactics and new kinds of malware are probing networks for vulnerabilities — and increasingly, finding them. We identify the top candidates for security breaches inside your own company
Rick Cook 05 July, 2007 10:09:09

7.Media Files. Unauthorized media files are dangerous both because of their content and what can be hidden in them. Video and music files are an increasingly popular method of sneaking malware into an organization, including spyware, Trojans, viruses and just about any other kind of bad stuff you can think of.

One popular method is to include code in a media file that exploits security flaws in the media player. For example, the infected media file can open a malicious Web page on the user's computer and use that to automatically infect the system - and from there the network. Since these attacks require minimal interaction from the user, often he or she isn't even aware of what has happened.

Even the recording industry has got in on the game. In 2004, a company working for the record companies started seeding file-sharing sites with media files containing a Trojan that downloaded adware and opened multiple pop-up windows on the user's computer.

Even if the files don't contain hidden nasties, the files themselves can be problems, with copyright violations and pornography the most obvious example.

8.Unnecessary Modems. A lot of computers, especially older ones, included built-in modems whether or not they were needed. In other cases, servers have modems connected directly to outside lines for purposes of monitoring and maintenance. In either case, unneeded modems provide another path into your network, an unnecessary path that brings with it a host of potential problems.

War dialling isn't as popular an attack as it once was, but some bad guys still use it, and an unprotected modem attached to your network is just as dangerous as ever.

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    CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II 05 October, 2007 06:00:00

    For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders.
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    CIO Live Podcast #78: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires 28 September, 2007 17:34:25

    For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders.
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    CIO Live Podcast #77: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part III 21 September, 2007 07:00:00

    Part three in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
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    CIO Live Podcast #76: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part II 14 September, 2007 07:00:00

    Part two in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
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    CIO Live Podcast #75: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part I 07 September, 2007 07:00:05

    Part one in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
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    SOA What? Why You Need SOA Governance Framework 04 December, 2008 08:32:00

    Adopting services oriented architecture (SOA) in your enterprise without thinking through IT governance can cause something like the Gold Rush in the 1800s; extreme rates of growth and minimal law and order which produce unexpected outcomes.
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    The Myth of Cloud Computing 04 December, 2008 08:25:00

    Why the rapid spread of virtual technology is becoming a security risk
    Why the rapid spread of virtual technology is becoming a security risk.
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    Who Pushed Vendors Toward Better Security? 04 December, 2008 09:38:00

    Hint: It had something to do with pressure from customers and government agencies, writes Oracle CSO Mary Ann Davidson
    Hint: It had something to do with pressure from customers and government agencies, writes Oracle CSO Mary Ann Davidson.
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    CPO & CISO: A Comprehensive Approach to Information 04 December, 2008 08:42:00

    GE CPO Nuala O'Connor Kelly advocates greater CPO/CISO cooperation to place the right value on information assets.
    GE CPO Nuala O'Connor Kelly advocates greater CPO/CISO cooperation to place the right value on information assets.
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    Security Culture: Americans are Ferengis, Europeans are Vulcans 04 December, 2008 08:32:00

    Lunch table conversations tell a lot about the culture of security in Europe and the US
    Lunch table conversations tell a lot about the culture of security in Europe and the US.
CIO Webcast Innovation #8 - What are the biggest roadblocks to IT's involvement in innovation at your company?
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CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II
Listen to the latest edition of CIO Live which is now available for download.
Listen to the podcast
Sign up to the CIO Live email
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