Make sure the channels are safe

May 2018 Editor's Choice, Information Security, Infrastructure

Do you control all the channels used for transferring confidential information? Condyn and SearchInform, a developer of information security products represented by Condyn in the African market, guide readers through the threats they may encounter.

Companies should be aware of how many possible data leakage sources they have. Email, phone calls, instant messengers and social networks, cloud storage, external storage devices – to name a few. It doesn’t matter whether it's about deliberate or accidental leakage, the channels are the same.

Jorina van Rensburg.
Jorina van Rensburg.

Corporate channels of communication, such as Exchange, IP telephony, file servers, SharePoint, Office 365, etc., can be managed with the help of security policies, but personal ones – web mail, social networks, blogs, forums, etc. – have always been out of control.

Is there any point in monitoring if half of the communication channels remain vulnerable to breaches or misuse? Here are some crucial reminders of how else your information can be leaked.

Printing

The transition to digital format doesn’t mean that there’s no need to control printed documents. Paper can still be leaked. Remember Reality Winner1? While working for the NSA, she printed, took away and handed over the top secret report to journalists.

Here is another example. The head of the sales department used to work in different branch offices of the company, and several remote printers were configured for him so that he could print out the necessary documents in any office. Once his colleague received a message "Run to the printer, grab the documents, don’t look, put it straight through the shredder." The manager sent the document to the wrong device and printed out an important contract in another office.

Anyone can accidentally see confidential documents or even pick up printed files, especially if the printer is accessible for all the employees. And if you don’t find documents near the printer, the first thing you are most likely to think about is that you’ve run out of paper or ink.

Private email

Companies that monitor confidential data transfer often intercept internal documents sent to employees’ private email. A manager could send a development plan to himself to work from home. But what if he decided to share his secrets with the competitors? The analysis of correspondence will help find out about his true intentions.

Incoming emails from head hunters as well as messages from suspicious addressers pose another security problem. 65% of malware2 invades computers through infected attachments. An employee who opened the file due to carelessness or out of curiosity, jeopardises the security of the entire network.

Accidental leaks might occur as well. Six out of ten companies3 faced the fact that employees attached documents which they shouldn’t have sent by mistake.

Messengers and social networks

Today we use instant messengers and text each other in social networks for personal and business purposes. WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram and Facebook Messenger are sources of potential data leakage. Employees like messengers for ease of use, they think they’re protected from monitoring, therefore can discuss ‘secret’ topics.

Employees’ dependence on social networks might lead to exposure of unofficial or inappropriate information about the company. Uncontrolled social media publications can damage the reputation of your business. SearchInform’s experts brought to mind the case when factory employees should have checked the background before making selfies. Sharing these photos revealed some secret installation behind them. Another case featured an employee of a telecommunication company who leaked the client base to competitors via social network.

External storage devices

Flash drives, hard drives and other external storage devices are quick and simple to use that’s why they often become the source of a leak. Employees might upload confidential data to a USB flash drive intentionally. An employee of the state administration – SearchInform’s client – decided to take away more than a thousand top secret documents.

A careless employee might lose the device, as it happened in Heathrow Airport4, when an unemployed person picked up a USB drive with 2.5 GB of confidential files belonging to the largest airport in the UK which included the itinerary of Queen Elizabeth II.

Internet

An irreplaceable tool at work is a major channel responsible for information leakage. What gets posted on blogs? Which files do employees upload to cloud storage? Which sites do they visit? What are they looking for in Google? All these actions put confidential data at risk and can compromise the wellbeing of the company.

For example, an employee downloads from the Internet a harmless application for work. Along with this application comes the ransomware or malware installed on your PC for hidden mining and accessing confidential information of the company’s server. Boeing5 is one of those who have already fallen prey to WannaCry ransomware.

If there are threats everywhere, what do companies have left to do if it is impossible to avoid the Internet, email and other benefits of IT civilisation? Condyn recommends that they leave all the channels of communication open and keep them under control.

Comprehensive control with the integrated DLP (data leak prevention) system allows employees to use the necessary tools and communication channels freely and safely while protecting data from loss or theft. DLP systems will control file transferring and printing, sudden outbursts of communication in messengers, visits to the websites which aren’t related to the job responsibilities and will warn about possible leakage. Such a protection model facilitates business processes and contributes to the communication efficiency of employees.

KPMG's Global profiles of the fraudster6 study shows a curious detail: 37% of employees ‘caught cheating’ explained their actions were neither a malicious intention nor an accident – they did it only because they had the opportunity to do so. Companies should not create such opportunities, they might want to find weak spots instead and improve data protection.

SearchInform has developed a concept which makes its product differ from the standard DLP. The MPL approach stands for Money Loss Prevention. The key idea is to provide an organisation not only with incident control and notification but with the tools which will analyse the situation before the incidents happen. The MLP features the classic DLP bundled with in-depth evaluation of employee behaviour. The extra modules constitute a Forensic Suite helping to detect tendencies in the workplace, dubious activity and collect a violation evidence base. Any questionable correspondence or action among employees may cause financial damage – money loss or recovery costs. The ‘next generation DLPsystem’ reveals side schemes of sales, identifies risk groups and opinion leaders, and seamlessly keeps track of business processes.

Condyn will be hosting two events to further discuss this topic as well as SearchInform’s capabilities.

• Johannesburg Roadshow: Forever Hotel @ Centurion (/O Basden Ave & Rabie St, Lyttleton, Centurion), 16 May 2018, 09:00 – 13:30.

• Cape Town Roadshow, Atlantic Imbizo (3rd Level, Clocktower Offices, Clocktower Precinct, Cape Town Waterfront), 23 May 2018, 10:00 – 14:00.

To attend, please RSVP to [email protected] or contact Leon Labuschagne on 082 7884556, or Riana on 082 333 4464.

References

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/us/politics/realityleighwinnerleaknsa.html

2. http://www.verizonenterprise.com/verizoninsightslab/dbir/2017/

3. https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint/60ofbusinessesmistakenlysentoutsensitivedocuments/d/did/1328396

4. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorthreatheathrowairportsecurity11428132

5. https://www.forbes.com/sites/leemathews/2018/03/30/boeingisthelatestwannacryransomwarevictim/#187e2cc56634

6. https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/insights/2016/05/globalprofilesofthefraudster.html





Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page



Further reading:

Local-first data security is South Africa's new digital fortress
Infrastructure Information Security
With many global conversations taking place about data security and privacy, a distinct and powerful message is emerging from South Africa: the critical importance of a 'local first' approach to data security.

Read more...
Software security is a team sport
Information Security Infrastructure
Building and maintaining secure software is not a one-team effort; it requires the collective strength and collaboration of security, engineering, and operations teams.

Read more...
Making drone security more accessible
Editor's Choice Integrated Solutions Residential Estate (Industry) AI & Data Analytics IoT & Automation
Michael Lever discusses advances in drone technology, focusing on cost reductions and the implementation of automated services, including beyond line of sight capabilities, for residential estates with SMART Security Solutions.

Read more...
Private fire services becoming the norm?
Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Editor's Choice
As the infrastructure and service delivery in many of South Africa’s major cities decline, with a few, limited exceptions, more of the work that should be done by the state has fallen to private companies.

Read more...
View from the trenches
Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Editor's Choice Integrated Solutions Security Services & Risk Management Residential Estate (Industry)
There are many great options available to estates for effectively managing their security and operations, but those in the trenches are often limited by body corporate/HOA budget restrictions and misunderstandings.

Read more...
SMART Estate Security Conference KZN 2025
Arteco Global Africa OneSpace Technologies SMART Security Solutions Technews Publishing Editor's Choice Integrated Solutions Security Services & Risk Management Residential Estate (Industry)
May 2025 saw the SMART Security Solutions team heading off to Durban for our annual Estate Security Conference, once again hosted at the Mount Edgecombe Country Club.

Read more...
Data resilience at VeeamON
Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Infrastructure Information Security
SMART Security Solutions attended the VeeamON Tour in Johannesburg in August to learn more about data resilience and Veeam’s initiatives to enhance data protection, both on-site and in the cloud.

Read more...
Get the AI fundamentals right
Leaderware Editor's Choice Surveillance AI & Data Analytics
Much of the marketing for CCTV AI detection implies the client can just drop the AI into their existing systems and operations, and they will be detecting all criminals and be far more efficient when doing it.

Read more...
SMART Surveillance Conference in Johannesburg
Arteco Global Africa Technews Publishing SMART Security Solutions Axis Communications SA neaMetrics Editor's Choice Surveillance Security Services & Risk Management Logistics (Industry) AI & Data Analytics
SMART Security Solutions hosted its annual SMART Surveillance Conference in Johannesburg in July, welcoming several guests, sponsors, and speakers for an informative and enjoyable day examining the evolution of the surveillance market.

Read more...
Troye exposes the Entra ID backup blind spot
Information Security Infrastructure
If you trust Microsoft to protect your identity, think again. Many organisations naively believe that Microsoft’s shared responsibility model covers Microsoft Entra?ID – formerly Azure AD – but it does not.

Read more...










While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd. | All Rights Reserved.