MCI WorldCom joins managed security fray

Computers

& Security,

18 (1999) 231-236

Abstracts of Recent Articles and Literature Helen Meyer

Free file encryption security companies tomers by offering NovaStor

offered,

Matthew

Nelson. Two

are attempting to entice new cusfree document encryption. Both

and Azalea Software

are enabling

access to a

portion of their Web sites for sample downloading encryption software. Documents encrypted with

of the

access, print,

save, edit or copy

tect data from

8, 1999, p. 28.

files. NovaStor’s

Protection

Service

offering

is based on the

products

theft on Web sites can be attractive

customers, but cSafe plug-ins transparently,

software can be stored on a computer or transmitted across the Internet, even internationally, as encrypted Secret

data. cSafe’s

are based on the company’s Secure Access Filtration and Encapsulation architecture. The capability to pro-

from

Chernobyl

has

tion service. service, but

dicted to hit on 26 April 1999. The protection depends on customers carrying out regular virus defonline inition through the updates service LiveUpdate.The ChernobyI virus is predicted to strike

documents documents

with strong encryption and then send the internationally. ItzfoworEd, February 8, 1999,

tems will be protected

that their sys-

from the Chernobyl

virus pre-

p. 22.

on 26 April

Web

Chernobyl disaster. It has the potential to erase hard drives and corrupt a PCs BIOS. Symantec claims that

data-protection

offerings

readied,

Matthew

Nelson. if you are looking to prevent the theft of trademarked images or sensitive information, security company cSafe duplication

will introduce of information

applications that halt the from Web sites. These

products will enable users to ‘wrap’ images and documents that can then be placed on Internet sites and protected from unauthorized copying or duplication

Norton

AntiVirus

of the CIH 1999, p. 2. MCI

Laura Kujubu.

will be followed

later

this

year by IntraSafe and FileSafe. Preventing trademarked images from being widely copied offWeb sites without permission is critical for some content providers. IntraSafe will govern what can be done with data once access is given. FileSafe will regulate who can

0167-4048/99$20.00

0 1999 Elsevier Science

5.0

can not

only

detect

of the

but

also

oped to assist other anti-virus solution users who find their networks or PCs infected with the latest variant

being

PixSafe

it is the 13th anniversary

repair any files infected by the virus. In addition to the definition and fix, a kill_cih.exe tool has been devel-

of material. The first of the cSafe products will be PixSafe which protects images on Web sites from duplicated.

because

customers

Symantec

reassured

a similar to secure

AntiVirus

virus.

company’s DataSafe Web software, and loads a small version of the product onto a browser for file encrypAzalea Software is offering is promoting its capability

Norton

to

will have to prove it can load analysts said. Zr$world, February

virus.

WorldCorn

Computer

joins

Fraud

managed

MCI WorldCorn

G Security, April

security

is to introduce

fray, a suite

of security services, underscoring the growing trend of service providers’ willingness to take on the security needs of somewhat reluctant business customers. Pulling its its security assets from together CompuServe Network Services ANS and

Ltd. All rights reserved

231

Abstracts of Articles and Recent Literature

Communications Advanced

acquisitions,

Networks

MCI

plans to offer

WorldCorn

a comprehensive

security package targeted at large, multinational companies. Outsourcing security may seem risky, and even unnecessary at first, but these perceptions will change over the next few years. An analyst at the Yankee Group in the USA said that businesses are currently spending $330 million on managed security services, but this will increase to $820 million by 2002 and $1 billion by 2003. N ew services will make outsourcing more attractive. For example, Pilot Network Services offers a secure messaging service. Its Heuristic Defense Infrastructure is the foundation of its Security Utility Service, providing a network of security ‘power plans’ connected by a backbone, to deliver messages from a source network to a destination network. Infoworld, February 22, 1999, p. 8.

view event for its Pentium

III processor,

trotted

out a

host of security companies with plans to utilize the controversial Processor Serial ID Number on the chip. The list included Network Associates, RPK Security, ilumin, Aliroo, Rainbow Technologies, SSE, and Brokat, all of which announced plans to use the Processor ID for encryption, firewall and other security products. Network Associates said its Gauntlet Active Firewall software uses the identification number stamped into the Pentium III’s circuitry to recognize networked devices and trigger alerts to network managers if there is a problem. Intel recently came under fire by privacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which feared serial numbers on chips would allow tracking of individuals on the Internet.

Icfiworld,

February

22,

1999, p. 27.

Harmonized European organizations at risk from virus infection. A press release from Symantec reveals that research,

carried

out by Secure

Computing,

has shown

that thousands of European corporate organizations are at risk from virus infection. In a test of global antivirus solutions which determined their success in both detection and disinfection, it was found that Norton AntiVirus 5.0 is able to detect and repair 100% of inthe-wild viruses.The research showed that users of Dr. Solomon’s AntiVirus Toolkit version 7.93 are at risk of infection from eight in-the-wild viruses, including two strains of the CIH virus. Network Associates VirusScan 4.0.2 and update 4015 is unable to repair the Natas boot sector virus and incapable of properly disinfecting a common macro virus. Trend OfficeScan failed to repair two viruses and was unable to completely repair a further six. Commenting on the results of the research a spokesman for the company said, “There is now little differentiation between leading products in terms of their ability to detect viruses. For all users, but particularly corporate organizations, detecting a virus is of little value if the anti-virus software they are using is incapable of disinfection also. Vendors should be striving towards providing comdetection and disinfection.” plete protection Computer

Security Matthew

232

Fraud

G Security, April

1999, p. 2.

takes front seat at Pentium Nelson

and Ephraim

Schwartz.

preview,

Intel, at a pre-

copyright rules across Europe. The tight against software piracy in Europe has been further strengthened as the Business Software Alliance (BSA) joined forces with copyright associations representing the film, video, leisure software and music industries, to put pressure on Brussel’s policy-makers and MEPs. Together, the BSA, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the Motion Picture Association (MPA), the International Video Federation (IVF) and the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE), presented their response to the European Commission’s recent Green Paper on “Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy in the Single Market”. The organizations are seeking harmonized laws and coordinated enforcement efforts across Europe in order to fight copyright piracy within the Single Market, which causes losses estimated to be more than A2.5 billion every year. In the UK, the software piracy level is currently estimated to be 310/o, which means that one in three pieces of business software is being used illegally. The resulting annual losses are valued at over A200 millionThe BSA is calling for greater government commitment to fighting piracy, higher and more strongly enforced damages and penalties, improved enforcement procedures and faster judicial processes to ensure the continued healthy growth of the software industry. The BSA is also calling for the establishment of an authority at the EU level to manage and coordinate