Access Control: Features

The U.S. government needs to spend more money on cybersecurity research and development and on education programs in order to fight a rising tide of attacks against government and private groups, cybersecurity experts told U.S. lawmakers.

In one of the more famous episodes of the original "Star Trek" series - "The Trouble With Tribbles" - Capt. Kirk confines Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott to his personal quarters for getting into a bar fight.

If you think the biggest threat to your sensitive information lies in network security, think again. Once a criminal is inside a building, there are limitless possibilities to what that person can access or damage. Take a look at your building's security. How easy is it to get inside?

Chris Nickerson is willing to push it about as far as a person can go when it comes to security assessments. The founder of Lares, a security consultancy in Colorado, Nickerson conducts what he calls "Red Team Assessments" for clients. He is paid to try and dupe a client, and the client's employees, to give them a clear picture of the weak spots in their security plan. He then advises them on how to shore up defenses more effectively in the event a real criminal comes knocking.

Websense CTO Dan Hubbard outlines four ways companies can protect their information from threats and compromise on the social Web.

Moving to a nearly fully-virtualized infrastructure in 2008 made Joel Braverman a lot more confident in both the physical and digital IT infrastructure at his (relatively new) employer Universal Audio. As manager of IT and the guy responsible for security on that infrastructure-one that supports a company whose products are both expensive and almost entirely digital-it also made him extremely nervous, he says.

How business practices have changed the risky activity on your network.

Imperva's Amichai Shulman looks at database attack and defense.

Your identity is like George Costanza's wallet. Really. Think about it. Do you remember the classic Seinfeld episode? The one where George wouldn't give up his ever-expanding wallet filled with store credit cards, Irish money, a coupon for an Orlando Exxon gas station and several Sweet and Low packets. This, in spite of the obvious physical pain it caused and the security threat all of that imposed.

Salesmen and parents know the technique well. It's called the takeaway, and as far as Keith Mularski is concerned, it's the reason he kept his job as administrator of online fraud site DarkMarket.