| Government |
- What is your strategy to prevent critical downtime caused by malware-triggered system crashes?
- How do you protect sensitive data from cyber terrorism attacks that create open backdoors?
|
 |
Government organizations are taking advantage of the productivity-boosting and cost-saving benefits of internet access and communication. But with access comes the risk of a security breach of confidential information or the risk of downtime, often threatening national security. Organizations must manage the security and privacy of information, while allowing productive internet access. |
| The Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) requires all federal agencies to implement risk management measures to secure information. Primarily, agencies need to monitor the flow of information in and out of their network to prevent leaks of confidential information. Failure to prevent unauthorized leaks of sensitive data can be costly to an institution in terms of threats to national security and a damaged reputation. |
| What causes leaks and malicious attacks? |
| Organizations may have locked down exchange servers and office email, but multiple new backdoors have emerged. Webmail, Instant Messaging, Social Networks, Blogs and File Sharing networks are commonly used to leak information and are commonly overlooked by traditional security vendors. Organizations should have the ability to set granular controls on the use of these applications, enabling productive use while minimizing risks. |
| More often, however, employees unknowingly leak information or install malware. Nearly half of malicious code is embedded on websites that employees access regularly. Or, innocent employees are tricked into visiting malicious sites. This enables spyware and malware to install itself without explicit permission and create open backdoors, by which hackers access an organization’s confidential information. |
| Finally, malware creates critical downtime and data loss. Valuable national security records and confidential information are destroyed by malware. Viruses lead to system crashes, creating downtime that is a nightmare for government agencies. |
| Web Logs: Compliance and Proactive Risk Management |
NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) standards require organizations to keep accurate audit trails about the internet use of employees in a comprehensive and accessible form.
|
| Web logs also provide visibility into inbound and outbound internet traffic, detect and record anomalous incidents and allow institutions to prevent or proactively respond to future incidents. Current logging solutions are also inadequate; different logs are kept for each organization’s different locations. This means that all other locations will be blind to a security breach at one location and therefore, also susceptible to the same breach. Data should be consolidated, easy to find, and provide complete visibility for maximum security. |
Zscaler can help government agencies manage internet access in a comprehensive fashion to secure confidential data, prevent data loss and provide FISMA/NIST compliance.
|
| To learn more about how Zscaler can help government agencies, please click here. |
| |
| |
