March 2011
In this issue:

Happy New Year and welcome to the seventh edition of the JW Secure Informer, our bi-monthly newsletter. This is an opportunity to share what’s on our radar, specifically with respect to enterprise network security, but also regarding IT and business more generally.

The Informer is intended to be useful content and good for a quick read. So if it’s just clutter in your inbox, we’ve failed, and I hope you’ll let us know.

Endpoint Hardening in the News

This just in: your network perimeter is permeable and the first line of defense is now the user’s workstation. We need to lock it down.

• JW Secure StrongNet
• High-Assurance Platform from the National Security Agency
• Advanced Persistent Threats Mitigation Best Practices from TSCP

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NSTIC is an initiative by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, plus the Department of Commerce, to coordinate with the private sector to standardize the protection of user identities online. However, privacy is easier said than done.

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IT Security Policy: A Must Have
by Blake Britton, Vice President of Axxys Technologies, Inc.

I know we all feel that we do our best when it comes to securing both the physical and tangible assets of our businesses. Most companies feel that by simply locking doors, controlling who has keys and alarm codes, changing passwords, and engaging in other basic security measures they are doing their best to protect the business. I am not a physical security officer, or loss prevention specialist, but I do know about "basic" IT policy and how it can help your business protect its "information" assets.

So here are the questions of the day: Does your company have an enforceable IT security policy? Who is directly responsible for the management and enforcement of this policy? How often is this policy reviewed and updated?

These are all very serious questions that every business must answer. In a lot of cases the "information" businesses possess is one of their most valuable assets.

Password Change Policy - The simplest form of security

End users need to keep their passwords secure, updated frequently (minimum 90 days), and have some form of complexity (minimum characters, upper/lower case, numbers, and symbols). Be vigilant about letting end users know not to share their password, or provide it to anyone for use on their behalf. You never know if a person that has been let go from your company can login remotely under another end user’s identity and access data. Be vigilant!

Remote Access Policy

It’s a mobile world and we want to ensure our teams have the ability to work remotely. However, we need to ensure that the data is secured and that you are aware of exactly what is being accessed.

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