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Online retailers and web-enabled companies face a tough challenge ahead of the busy 2007 holiday season, as cyberthreats and security breaches will take their toll on businesses and consumers. Toronto, October 24, 2007 /PR/ The success of online commerce has ignited a rush to the Web as companies of all sizes seek to automate their processes, stay connected, cut costs and drive incremental revenue. This rush, which began in earnest at the turn of the century continues today and has attracted a proportional amount of cybercrime. A Canadian security expert offers recommendations to protect both businesses and individuals. Claudiu Popa, president of a Toronto-based security consultancy, sees an alarming trend towards more intelligent attacks that target not only consumers through phishing emails and virus infections but also the businesses that invest in the latest web functionality. A professional security auditor, Mr. Popa sees a wide variety of vulnerabilities that threaten to impact the busy holiday season this year: “This year is unlike previous years in that the focus of organized cybercriminals will be to go big and to do this, they will leverage the more advanced hacking techniques that have been emerging over the past little while. Businesses that rely on Web applications that have not been professionally tested for security and privacy should brace themselves for the impact of privacy breaches, data theft, server and online application hijackings.” said Popa. “Most companies fail to catch security breaches, giving them a false sense of security. It is critical to understand that these entirely preventable failures endanger the privacy of customers and compromise the very existence of businesses.”. After a record-breaking 2006 exceeding 100 billion in online sales and over 3 billion in cyberfraud, this year promises to be bigger on both counts. Best practices and proven security standards need to be adopted ahead of the busy holiday season and rigorously followed by all organizations. These include security awareness education for all employees and management, professional security assessments for networks and online applications as well as rigorous, on-going monitoring to prevent privacy or security incidents. “Almost ¾ of all web merchants and Internet companies spent less than 1% of their revenues to combat cybercrime and online fraud. I don’t believe that this is going to be acceptable this year as companies will feel the sting of financial losses, banks will do what they need to protect themselves and consumers will not take privacy breaches lightly. Online companies need to be much more accountable for their security lapses and that takes commitment. The good news is they can leave the rest to us.” For individuals and companies seeking to report cybercrime, Informatica freely provides a comprehensive list of links at www.SecuriyandPrivacy.ca. The company also offers the acclaimed Verify™ security assessments, employee security awareness certification and a complete series of consulting solutions. About Informatica Toronto-based Informatica Corporation is a renowned Canadian information risk management organization. Over the past 18 years, Informatica has provided consulting, analysis, implementation and training solutions to SME and enterprise clients in diverse sectors and world regions. Informatica clients include financial organizations, government, non-profit organizations, services, manufacturing and health organizations. Informatica is the only organization that offers FlexSecure Verify™ web site and application security assessments, standards-based audits and WorkLife™ Security and Privacy Awareness Certification in addition to published research, emerging threat analysis, corporate risk strategy, security project management and customized corporate training For media enquiries and security solutions contact: Claudiu Popa, CISSP, PMP, CISA CO: Informatica Corporation Information Security/Risk
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