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Processor Article, “Connectivity When It Matters Most: Riverbed’s Steelhead Appliances Provide Agency With Connectivity That Can Help Save Lives”

A “Case Study” article from the February 12, 2010 issue:

In many ways, International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org) is a typical SME. It employs about 400 people, several of whom are located in branch offices, and it has an IT staff consisting of just four people. This small IT department is tasked with making sure IJM’s far-flung network works effectively and securely, responsibilities that, in an ideal world, would be handled by a staff two or three times its size.

Unlike most SMEs, however, IJM’s branch offices are located in places such as Rwanda and Cambodia, where it can cost several thousand dollars per month to run a 128KB connection. Moreover, fast and effective network communications can mean the difference between life and death both for its employees and for the people it is committed to freeing from such evils as slavery, sex trafficking, and police brutality.

IJM was looking for a solution that could optimize and accelerate data transfer, application performance, and mobile communications over its entire WAN, as well as enhance data security. After some research, IJM found that Riverbed’s Steelhead solutions offered exactly what it required. The organization uses the 1U Steelhead 2020 appliance in its main Washington, D.C., office, the Steelhead 500 in its larger field offices, and the Steelhead 200 in its smaller field offices, according to John Lax, vice president of information systems at IJM.

Complete Article: Connectivity When It Matters Most: Riverbed’s Steelhead Appliances Provide Agency With Connectivity That Can Help Save Lives

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2010 03 05 Robyn Weisman Articles
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Processor Article, “Bringing Cloud To The Masses: NaviSite’s Hosted Services Give SMEs Large-Enterprise Functionality At Small-Enterprise Prices”

A “Featured Company” article from the February 12, 2010 issue:

Until fairly recently, most IT departments had to oversee most anything that had to do with their networks. Then, over the past half-decade or so, services began to sprout up that allowed data center managers to outsource certain processes, such as email messaging, data archiving, and network security, to vendors that specialized in these areas.

This trend is leading to what’s known as “utility computing,” in which data centers can purchase computing resources in the same way they currently buy electricity and other utilities. Andover, Mass.,-based NaviSite (www.navisite.com) is in the forefront of this revolution. “Without a doubt, the single biggest thing in our future and the industry in general is utility computing,” says NaviSite CTO Denis Martin. “It’s going to change how the computing industry provides services to end customers.”

Complete Article: Bringing Cloud To The Masses: NaviSite’s Hosted Services Give SMEs Large-Enterprise Functionality At Small-Enterprise Prices

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2010 03 03 Robyn Weisman Articles
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Processor Article, “Data Protection On The Go: CoSoSys Protects Your Valuable Information In The Age Of The Mobile Workforce”

A “Featured Company” article from the January 29, 2010 issue:

When CoSoSys was founded back in April 2004, the move toward smaller, often flash-based devices was just beginning. “It was predictable that portable storage devices would, as they do nowadays, be able to store almost all of a company’s important data,” says CoSoSys founder and CEO Roman Foeckl. “Having so much data on the move generated a need to protect it from malicious intent.”

Within six months, CoSoSys (www.cososys.com) released two applications: Lock It Easy, which secured data on USB flash drives, and Surf It Easy, which allowed for safe Internet browsing using flash drives. Since then, the company has successfully developed and released almost a dozen portable drive security solutions. “It did require a sense of business and a sense of where data security would go, but the signs predicting these developments were all in plain sight,” says Foeckl.

Complete Article: Data Protection On The Go: CoSoSys Protects Your Valuable Information In The Age Of The Mobile Workforce

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2010 03 01 Robyn Weisman Articles
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Processor Article, “Steganalysis Experts: Backbone Security Keeps Valuable Data From Slipping Out Under Cover”

A “Featured Company” article from the January 14, 2010 issue:

Just when you think you have your network security under control (assuming that is even possible), something you never considered has to show up and make your job that much more complex. And so it goes with steganography, a technology that lets a seemingly innocuous photo or avatar store surprisingly large amounts of information, including your customers’ credit card information, PHI (private health information), and your company’s intellectual property.

In 2004, IT security provider Backbone Security (www.backbonesecurity.com) launched its Steganography Analysis and Research Center, or SARC, to research and develop solutions to counteract this growing danger. “SARC’s goal is to be the world’s leading provider of digital steganalysis software and to provide users with computer forensic and network security tools to detect insider use of steganography to steal sensitive information or otherwise conceal evidence of criminal activity,” says Jim Wingate, director of SARC and Backbone vice president.

When Backbone Security was incorporated on Sept. 11, 2000, its goal was to provide full-service enterprise information security software and services. The company still positions itself as having a strong portfolio of IT security services to this day. However, Backbone’s specialties in steganalysis at SARC and in PCI compliance assessments and solutions are two areas worth understanding and consideration as our world continues its push toward total interconnectivity and the borders between individual data centers and everything else become increasingly blurred.

Complete Article: Steganalysis Experts: Backbone Security Keeps Valuable Data From Slipping Out Under Cover

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2010 02 26 Robyn Weisman Articles
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Processor Article, “Preventing Data Leaks: A Dose Of Security Savvy Will Help Plug The Cracks In Your Data Center”

A “Cover Focus” feature from the January 14, 2010 issue:

You can stick your enterprise’s data center into the equivalent of Fort Knox, but without a plan of action to contend with data leaks, you might as well toss your organization’s intellectual coinage in the nearest dumpster. And seemingly any strategy you put in place has to take so many variables into account—from careless sales staff leaving their data-laden smartphones at an airport bar to the equally clichéd (but worrisome) third-world hacker worming his way into your network via various phishing techniques.

“Data leakage has been one of the top headlines in the IT world for 2009,” says Chet Wisniewski, senior security advisor at security solutions provider Sophos (www.sophos.com). “Most organizations have recognized the need to protect [portable devices such as laptops, thumb drives, and smartphones] against theft and compromise using full disk encryption, but there is much more an administrator can do to ensure their business is protected.”

So what should you keep in mind when devising a coherent data protection plan? Here is a look at some expert advice on how to properly keep your data in check and safe—and out of the news.

Complete Article: Preventing Data Leaks: A Dose Of Security Savvy Will Help Plug The Cracks In Your Data Center

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2010 02 24 Robyn Weisman Articles
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