A survey by organisers of Infosecurity Europe of 291 companies has found that 93 per cent of companies believe that instant messaging (IM) and Voice over IP (VoIP) usage is moving faster than corresponding security.
Further to this, according to interviews Infosecurity Europe conducted with a panel of 20 Chief Security Officers (CSOs) of large enterprises, IM is now prevalent in organisations with large volumes of financial transactions being carried out over IM in some organisations.
Another concern was that as IM allows encrypted data traffic it could be an undetectable source of data leakage. The view on VoIP is that although there has been some adoption, it is not yet a widely deployed technology in corporates although it was being used a lot by travelling executives and the story is very different in the SME area where many have rushed to take the opportunity to reduce costs.
There are similar security issues relating to VoIP regarding encrypted traffic and also the potential for SPIM to clog VoIP communications and cause similar problems to those caused by SPAM in email.
What they say
“The convergence of communications networks, devices and content has enabled service providers to deliver newer, faster and more advanced services including voice, data, video and applications – all over a single IP network. While these rapid technology advancements have tremendous benefits, they have raised questions from policymakers about whether security can keep up,” said Marika Konings, Director of European Affairs for the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA).
“It is vital for the information security industry to stay engaged with our policy makers as they evaluate the impact of these new technologies and it is exciting that a premier event such as Infosecurity Europe is providing an opportunity to explore the current legislative climate.”
At Infosecurity Europe 2007 later this month the subject of securing new communication telecoms technologies such as IM and VoIP will be covered in a number of keynotes and seminars. Including the keynote led by Marika Konings, Director European Affairs, Cyber Security Industry Alliance on how to Secure the Latest Telecoms Technologies, with Roger Cumming, Head of Advice and Delivery, CPNI. In this session the telecoms policy from the EU and USA will be explored, plus some of the concerns associated with the latest telecoms applications and the impact of these security vulnerabilities on business. The keynote, which is free to attend for Infosecurity Europe visitors, takes place at 11:30am on Thursday, April 26.
Sam Jeffers, Event Manager for Infosecurity Europe 2007 said: “The adoption of new communication technologies is an essential component for the agile enterprise that wishes to gain competitive advantage, however these technologies also provide vectors for new security threats and if they are not monitored and controlled can also create a serious compliance issue. Those tasked with ensuring that new technologies are deployed securely will benefit from the Education programme at the event and the can select the most comprehensive gathering of information security vendors in Europe.”
