US research body highlights dangers of popular communications
technologies
Instant messaging and peer-to-peer file sharing software are now
among the highest risks to business users of Windows, according to
this year's Sans Top 20 vulnerability report.
Ross Patel, director of threat research at the Sans Institute, a
corporate research and education body, said, "We have seen a
massive rise in the use of instant messaging." Many businesses have
been running instant messaging services as a form of communications
rather than as a business tool. As such, he said, they may risk
breaching the law.
"Regulation will require financial users to archive instant
messaging communications," Patel said. Free instant messaging
software generally does not offer auditing capabilities, but
businesses can purchase enterprise instant messaging tools that
do.
Patel also warned about security in instant messaging software,
which is often bolted on, rather than built as an integral party of
the instant messaging client, making it less secure.
The other major new security concern raised by the Sans Institute
for Windows users was the rise in popularity of peer-to-peer file
sharing networks.
Many businesses discourage users from running such software, since
file sharing consumes network bandwidth. However, Patel said, "As
desktop PCs are not locked down it is very easy to install P2P
client software."
Businesses could face a legal liability if end-users share
copyright material across their network. Confidential documents can
also be copied easily using P2P software. "Unless it is configured
properly, any piece of corporate information could be accessed,"
said Patel.
The Sans Institute's findings were reflected in a report from
Forrester Research. "P2P applications are a serious threat to
corporate networks because P2P software can potentially make
personal and proprietary information public. This can happen in a
variety of ways, most commonly when users configure their P2P
applications and inadvertently allow personal/corporate folders to
be shared," the analyst firm said.
Forrester said enterprise firewalls were not always equipped to
handle P2P applications. "Many P2P applications operate on port 80
or are port agile so that blocking a specific port will be
impossible," the report said.
Forrester recommended deploying personal firewall software in order
to block the P2P software completely.
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