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Banks and financial firms are placing more emphasis on internal threats to cut the flow of data leakage as a result of employee mistakes or workers disgruntled with layoffs and downsizing during the economic crisis, according to a recent survey. The report, "Protecting What Matters: The Sixth Annual Global Security Survey," is based on a Deloitte survey of 250 CISOs in the financial-services industry. It found that 36% of respondents believe the internal threat represents the greatest risk to organizations, compared to 13% who said external threats are the biggest concern. Mark Steinhoff, head of Deloitte's financial services security and privacy practices, said an organization's biggest mistake would be to let its guard down. While the number of security breaches may have declined over the last year, cybercriminals are not rationing back their efforts. "The number of breaches that are occurring are really at the hands of insiders and organizations are understanding that there is a real threat of malicious attacks and exposure of personal information by insiders," Steinhoff said. The failing economy may be driving the increased concern over insider threats, Steinoff said. "The climate we're in today causes concerns about disgruntled employees," he said. "We are seeing the layoffs and other forms of downsizing. Frankly with limited budget and less than satisfied employees, it really raises the parameter on that threat." Human error is the leading cause of information systems failure, and is likely to be the main cause of security attacks in the near future, according to 86% of those surveyed. To protect against employee mistakes that lead to a breach, financial firms should focus on risk rather than compliance to protect themselves, Steinhoff said. "[Organizations] need to look at what they want to protect and look at various types of threats internally and evaluate who has access to the data and who has access to which system, and approach it from that persp

"In light of a spike in identity theft and the frequency with which personal information is stored on portable devices, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) have expanded Generally Accepted Privacy Principles (GAPP) to include protocols for securing and disposing of personal information. "Safeguarding personal information is one of the most challenging responsibilities facing an organization, whether such information pertains to employees or customers," said Everett C. Johnson, CPA, chair of AICPA/CICA Privacy Task Force and a past international president of ISACA, a global information technology association. "We've updated the criteria of our privacy principles to minimize the risks to personal information." GAPP offers guidance and best practices on securing portable devices, breach management and ensuring continued effectiveness of privacy controls. The guidance additionally covers disposal and destruction of personal information. The principles are designed for chief privacy officers, executive management, compliance officers, legal counsel, CPAs and CAs offering technology advisory services. "Portable tools such as laptops and memory sticks provide convenience to employees but appropriate measures must be put in place to secure them and the data they contain," said Donald Sheehy, CA.CISA, CIPP/C, associate partner with Deloitte (Canada) and a member of the AICPA/CICA Privacy Task Force. "We must stay abreast of technological advances to assure that proper measures are put into place to defend against any new threats." Created by the AICPA/CICA Privacy Task Force, GAPP is designed to help an organization's management team assess an existing privacy program or address privacy obligations and risks. The principles provide a framework for CPAs and CAs to offer privacy services to their clients and employers, such as advisory services, privacy risk assessments and attestation or

There is no denying that Google is a giant success. But its size has made the "do no evil" mantra all the more difficult for it to follow - and for some of us to believe. Lately, it seems every new release and every new decision draws the ire of someone, be it politicians, privacy campaigners, or even villagers. While the Google brand is certainly in better shape than many tech firms, its constant moves to control more and more of our data and information has some up in arms. Privacy Three recent announcements have drawn the attention of privacy campaigners in the UK - Latitude, Street View, and behavioural advertising. Latitude is Google's mobile tracking system. Sign up for it, add your friends, and you can all see exactly where each other is via your mobile phone signal pinpointed on a Google map. Handy if you're bored and want to know who's out and about, but the location tracking system could be frightening for a host of other reasons, some say. Last month, Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesman Tom Brake filed an early day motion (EDM) asking the government to look into Latitude. Brake said: "This system poses an insidious threat to our hard-won liberties. 24-hour surveillance and a Big Brother society are new realities." But the heat was off Latitude after Street View was unveiled in the UK. The photo mapping system features street-level photos of 25 cities, offering a virtual tour of places such as London, Manchester and more. But some people aren't so happy having their homes, cars and selves photographed and mapped - even with face and number plates blurred. The backlash didn't take long to start. Within a day, Privacy International was on the case, asking the Information Commissioner to shut the site down.

A top affliction of privacy professionals is the growing complexity of privacy laws. The number of jurisdictions regulating data privacy and the number of other laws in which privacy provisions are tucked has increased with no letup since 2000. Like the Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels, the tiniest jurisdictions are now lassoing their privacy ropes around the mightiest of corporations. Where does this leave those who are charged with keeping their organizations privacy-compliant? Desperately looking for a way to organize news about all of these developments. I recently surveyed the landscape of possible solutions to this problem. What did I find? Three different approaches: free Web sites, newsletters and news feeds; fee-based periodicals; and fee-based databases, such as Nymity's PrivaWorks, Cecile Park Publishing's DataGuidance and law firm Morrison and Foerster LLP's Summit Privacy. What were the pros and cons of each approach? Free sources Privacy leaders with no budget will want to exploit what's free, including these options: * Morrison & Foerster's Privacy Library, probably the most comprehensive and current free online listing of privacy laws in 95 countries. * Law firm Baker & McKenzie's annual Global Privacy Handbook, which is distributed to clients and friends. * Computerworld's own Security Newsletter, which offers a regular look at news about the technical threats to personal data. * The International Association of Privacy Professionals' Daily Dashboard, Canada Dashboard Digest and monthly Inside 1to1: Privacy. These are the best available free news feeds on privacy.

Cash-squeezed privately held companies are facing another threat in this struggling economy: rising employee fraud. Employee fraud -- from check-forgery schemes to petty-cash theft -- tends to rise during tough economic times, when workers are feeling financial pressure in their personal lives, experts say. And small companies are especially vulnerable because they often lack stringent internal controls to prevent fraud. Sometimes, managers at affected companies attribute lost funds to lower sales -- never even suspecting foul play.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such is the case for information security management, which has been voted - for the seventh consecutive year - the most important issue affecting IT strategy, investment and implementation over the coming 12 to 18 months, according to the American Institute of CPAs' 20th Annual Top Technology Initiatives Survey. Employing a new strategy this year, the institute's 10-member tech task force distributed surveys to approximately 50,000 of the institute's members and then advertised the survey in an electronic newsletter. "We changed the voting audience," said David Cieslak, CPA, CITP and co-chair of the task force, noting that they sought responses from all institute members, without feedback from outside technology groups, as in past years. "It's a big year - our 20th - we wanted to make sure it was reflective of our membership." This year's survey received more than 700 responses, which ranked 33 technology initiatives that they perceived as having the most impact over the next 12-to-18 months. The most pressing initiative, according to respondents - information security management - is an integrated, systematic approach that co-ordinates people, policies, standards, processes and controls used to safeguard critical systems and information from internal and external security threats. "Integrity, confidentiality and the relationship that CPAs have with their clients is something that has always been important to accountants," said Mary MacBain, CPA, CITP and a task force co-chair. "Security is going to continue to be important." Jim Bourke, a member of the task force and partner-in-charge of technology at CPA and business advisory firm Withum Smith+Brown in Red Bank, N.J., said that it's no surprise to see information security management make the top slot yet again: "Look at the top three - what's the theme? Security and the concern about the privacy issues involving data. For the past few years, many CPAs ha

The largest threat to online advertising is growing as the economy declines. More individuals will turn criminal, purchasing products or generating income through fraudulent means. Billions of dollars are stolen from businesses each year, and in 2009 companies will fight fraud with fewer resources.According to CyberSource, an estimated $4 billion dollars was lost to fraud in 2008 up from $3.7 billion in 2007, and 87% of merchants must fight fraud with the same or less staff in 2009. The increase in eCommerce fraud from 2007 to 2008 (and one can expect, in 2009) follows the advertisers' shift to spend more of their budget online. Much like crime statistics, one has to wonder how much fraud is not being reported because, among many reasons, commission-driven employees are not motivated or your company lacks resources.In early 2008, I was approached by our CEO to start a new division that would address our partners' fraud concerns-both real and perceived. He said, "I'm not going to lie to you. It's a SOB job." I was sold, and the Best Practices Division began.My team establishes best practices (measurable, repeatable events, processes, and procedures) and applies them internally and externally (to our partners' online marketing practices). At its core, best practices (BPs) are a set of standards that provide transparency and clear expectations of behavior and results to everyone involved in the business process. This accountability will drive the long-term performance of the online advertising industry while maintaining profitability without additional federal regulation.The BP approach can be applied to every business model and used to fight fraud-wherever you find it. Industry norm places the onus on the advertiser to successfully qualify inbound leads as well as identify fraudulent traffic. In the past, advertisers had only two options: become an online fraud expert, or hire a vendor.Only a small percentage of companies will be successful with the

Reform legislation is expected to be introduced this spring to update the Federal Information Security and Management Act, known as FISMA. A major complaint about FISMA is that complying with its rules does not necessarily guarantee departmental and agency information systems are secure. In this exclusive interview, Sen. Tom Carper, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security, discusses: Key provisions in the bill to improve ways to measure and determine the security of federal government information systems; Efforts to create a government-wide Chief Information Security Officer Council; His views on the most pressing cybersecurity challenges facing the nation: identity theft and the viability of financial institutions and threats by foreign nations to federal information systems.

With so many workers being axed, the threat to sensitive customer, corporate, military information should be examined. Once workers leave with sensitive information, good luck controlling exposure. Cross International borders and the issue potentially expands into an national "incident" with dire consequences for corporate reputation. Protectionism vs Patriotism. Issues raised in the Great Depression revisited with more impact due to expansion of the economy to global status.

Microsoft Corp.'s plan to eliminate U.S. workers after lobbying for more foreigner visas is stirring resentment among lawmakers and employees. As many as 5,000 employees are being shown the door at Microsoft, which uses more H1-B guest-worker visas than any other U.S. company. Some employees and politicians say Microsoft should get rid of foreigners first. "If they lay people off, are they going to think of America first or are they going to think of the world first?" Chuck Grassley, a Republican Senator from Iowa, said in an interview. He sent a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer the day after Microsoft announced the job cuts last month, demanding Ballmer fire visa holders first. Across the technology industry, some of the biggest users of H1-B visas are cutting jobs, including Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. The firings at Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, came less than a year after Chairman Bill Gates lobbied Congress for an expansion of the visa program. Even before Microsoft announced the cuts, its first-ever companywide layoffs, comments on a blog run by an anonymous Microsoft worker angrily debated getting rid of guest workers first. The author of the Mini-Microsoft blog eventually had to censor and then completely block all arguments about visas, after the conversation "got downright nasty."