By Pablo Fuchs
Updating e-security essential in protecting business interests
As companies become more reliant on the Internet to do their business, e-security must become a major part of their plans to avoid threats posed by hackers and viruses.
According to Shawn Ling, an e-security expert, the market for e-security is expected to quadruple by the year 2004 in order to meet the demand. So when news broke in January that a newly discovered software vulnerability could allow hackers to disrupt portions of the Internet by redirecting Web and e-mail traffic, it became a major event.
The finding came from security experts at the CERT Co-ordination Centre, a government- supported computer emergency response team, in Pittsburgh.
But this came as no surprise to experts, who say there will always be new threats to security over the Internet. These days, when companies run a large portion of their business and marketing over the Web, they must make e-security as much a priority as protecting their locales.
Companies that do business over the Web must learn that not just computer networks are at risk, but serious amounts of dollars as well. Going back to May 2000, the “ILoveYou” virus penetrated the networks of important Canadian businesses such as the Royal Bank of Canada, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and government offices, including Ontario’s Legislative Assembly. The virus’s effect was felt for many months afterwards, causing billions of dollars worth of damage to computer systems around the globe.
Information like this is evidence enough to make companies seriously consider security measures for their e-businesses. The significant losses of intelligence, coupled with losses of millions of dollars, threaten high-tech entrepreneurs across this city. If these companies don’t do anything to protect themselves, the whole community could suffer.
But as the high-tech hotbed of Canada, some Ottawa companies are trying to take a leadership role when it comes to e-security. Experts such as Ling, the CEO of Centretown-based Quarterstone Communications Inc (QCI), say Internet security has become crucial for businesses. The company acts as a broker for its clients to find the best security and system maintenance solutions for the Internet.
Recently, QCI launched a service known as Net2ASP that will reinvent the way e-security is practiced. This new initiative allows the company to have a 24/7 proactive approach.
Net2ASP functions like this: experts who work at Net2ASP’s control centre monitor all their clients’ networks, anywhere in the world.
If an unidentified party tries to penetrate a certain system, the computer will give the control crew warnings so that the infiltrators can be stopped before they even have a chance.
Net2ASP’s control centre is protected by high-level security measures such as smart cards and biometrics, meaning only those allowed to go in, can. At the same time, this initiative is expected to help the company expand its business.
Services such as these are beginning to appear throughout North America.
The threat of hackers and viruses, such as the ILoveYou virus that hit computer systems across North America last spring, have made e-security an essential part of doing business on the Internet.
High-tech companies across Ottawa must seriously consider security measures like this.
With business over the Web continuing to soar, security measures must become extremely important. If companies are forced to close because they could not protect themselves, then Ottawa’s entire sector faces serious repercussions as a result.