Information is no longer black and white - but it does need to be read... all over

Posted on February 1, 2013

London, UK 1 February 2013 – Governments are at a heightened risk of falling prey to cyber attacks if they do not implement robust security policies and enforce them effectively, Dr. Guy Bunker, senior vice president of products at Clearswift, warned in a speech to the 7th Annual Cyber Defence and Network Security 2013 on Wednesday.

As the world’s leading cyber security experts gathered this week in London to share approaches to military and governmental security threats, Dr. Bunker explained that governments and other highly sensitive organisations are now faced with the dilemma of how to deal with monitoring multiple communication channels, without inhibiting the flow of information. "Information is created and consumed at a very fast pace. There is every chance that it might lose a great part of its value, if it is delayed," explained Bunker. "Automated deep content inspection (DCI) and information governance combat the security risks without compromising on communication."

DCI requires dissecting the communications traffic, identifying the pieces of data within and being able to check for specific content, such as confidential information, active content and inappropriate words. For this to be effective, Bunker explains that information classification must be carried out, and crucially, that it must be enforced – both internally and between partners and agencies.

"Technology alone is not a silver bullet. Education and awareness are critical for success," Bunker warned. Ensuring that only compliant information reaches the intended recipient depends upon information security policies being in place and adhered to. They should be used to drive a change in behaviour.

With this in mind, Dr. Bunker outlined the following guidelines for ensuring a government’s data remains secure:

•    Do not assume that the people at the bottom of the ladder have no ‘interesting’ information
•    Understand the information out there and how it is being communicated (even unknowingly)
•    Create information security policies and communicate the reasons they are in place
•    Put technology in place to enforce the policy and drive a change in behaviour
•    The world has changed – just because ‘it’s the way it’s always been done’, doesn’t make it right

About Clearswift

Clearswift’s content-aware, policy based solutions enables defense, government, healthcare and financial services organizations across the globe to manage and maintain no-compromise data, email, cloud and web security.

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MRB Public Relations
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