Iron Bow

By Prem Iyer, Information Security Practice Director

Look back at 2011 and you’ll see a year that reinforced the basics of information security as multi-national organizations and government agencies were brought to their knees by simple, yet persistent attacks. Hactivist groups, while not a new thing, were making a point to the world, gaining significant attention and shining a very bright light on organizations that didn’t take information security seriously.

With 2012 around the corner, the security threats will not be slowing down and in certain areas will quickly gain momentum. So what should agencies be prepared for in the New Year?

Latest Holiday Gadgets Drive BYOD

Many government employees are already synching their mobile devices to the network causing IT administrators to struggle to manage devices and security. As the holiday season approaches and the latest tablets and smartphones are given as gifts, there will be an increased desire for employees to bring their own devices to work. These “bring your own device” or “BYOD” scenarios require stronger mobile device management to secure the network.

Out with the Old and in with the New

Traditional firewalls have become stagnant in their development and will continue to give rise to the next-generation firewall, which puts application visibility and application control back where it belongs – at the firewall level.

Heading to the Clouds

My colleagues have been discussing the issues resulting from cloud adoption on the blog already. Ultimately, agencies must be particularly aware of the security issues that arise when they continue to implement their public/private cloud strategy.

Naughty or Nice List

Applications are often run on systems without authorization and by malicious outsiders looking to compromise a device. Application whitelisting will continue to see traction as administrators are able to control access for approved and un-approved applications and implement a strong defense strategy.

Beware of Malware

According to many of the latest security research, malware is infiltrating the most popular sites on the Internet, including Facebook, and is being seen more frequently in the mobile market. As federal employees begin to utilize more consumer devices and access social sites, anti-malware solutions will need to be implemented to protect the network.