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The age of information so frequently described and anticipated in ‘gee-whiz’ language has a darker side. As recent newspaper stories and other media attention show, unauthorized tampering with computer data banks and computer programs is on the rise. And the problem will grow worse with the proliferation of microcomputers, word processors, and data networks and with the swelling ranks of people familiar with their use. Probing beyond the conventional legislative and technological solutions to computer security problems, the authors look at what managers can do to preserve the integrity of their companies' information systems. While it is no longer possible simply to delegate responsibility for computer security to data processing managers, senior managers should not rely on expensive and complex solutions, according to these authors. They argue for simple, commonsense measures and advise how auditing and control systems can be revitalized to help detect security problems before they become serious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses issues related to database security in India. It is informed that the National Cyber Security Policy 2013 was unveiled by India to promote secure computing framework in the nation. It is noted that the government has also decided to train 5 lakh security experts by 2015 to prevent growing cyber crimes including Internet espionage and terrorism in the nation.

The article presents an overview of the move of some information technology (IT) security industry in turning to research communities for help in finding security flaws. It highlights the need to ensure data security to deviate the chances of computer hackers to gain access to private accounts. The move of Facebook Inc. in creating two primary groups that will prevent, detect and fix its vulnerabilities is also highlighted.

Examines the risks of identity theft for college students. Why financially inexperienced college students are particularly vulnerable; Security breaches in college and university computer systems; Laws enacted by a handful of states restricting or prohibiting college and university use of Social Security numbers; Dangers of credit applications; Observation that identity theft can go undiscovered for months or even years; Risks downloading music or videos off the Internet; How the consequences of identity theft can be devastating for students; Importance of identity theft victims to repair their credit as quickly as possible; Advice on repairing credit.

A program that lures prospective hackers into fake databases, confines any altered data, and almost instantly repairs the database, has been developed. Pennsylvania State software experts have created the program, which involves algorithms that track the activities of users in real time. Any suspicious behavior prompts the program to move a questionable user's operations into a bogus database while the altered data is quickly restored to its original form.

The article discusses the things to consider to address data breaches in organization. The proposed nationwide standard by U.S. President Barack Obama that would require businesses to notify customers within 30 days of discovering a breach of personal data is tackled. The things to consider include the need to know that no employer is immune to breaches, the need for email messages to be private, and include data breach scenarios in emergency and crisis planning.

The article predicts emerging computer security threats for 2013. Topics include hacking of Internet browser software through malicious e-mail and text messages, large-scale breaches of database systems, and attempts to bypass identity protection password authentication measures. Also discussed is the potential for malware espionage or cyberterrorism against critical national infrastructure facilities through their supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and incident command system (ICS) networks.

The article discusses the issue related to data security development worldwide. Data protection is described as one of the crucial issue that most of the companies tackled with. In fact, in 2007 there are more than 45.7 million records has been victimized by computer hackers due to lack of data security measures. That is why, most of the companies are interested to invest in security risk and management to avoid any data hacking activities.

The article expresses serious concerns about growing cases of data breaches in the United States. Threatened by financial losses related to data leakage events, business enterprises are turning to their insurance brokers seeking new levels of protection. According to Nancy Callahan, vice president of the Identity Theft and Fraud Division at American International Group Inc., business enterprises are seeking policies that may protect the company as well as their consumers against financial losses caused by corporate security failures.

Relates the data breach incident that occurred at data collecting company ChoicePoint in February 2005. Amount of the fine imposed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on the company in relation to the breach incident; Extent of the identity theft perpetrated by Nigerian national Olatunji Oluwatosin; Measures taken by Carol DiBattiste, chief credentialing, compliance and privacy officer of ChoicePoint, to ramp up information security at the company.

Discusses an information security breach incident that occurred at the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) in April 2005. Information about the thief, Asif Siddiqui, who, incidentally, is an employee at GTA; Changes made by the organization in its hiring process and information security policy after the arrest of Siddiqui; Remarks from Mark Reardon, director of security at GTA, regarding the incident.

Presents information on the failure of research information provider LexisNexis to secure its databases from cybercriminals in 2005, and provides an update on the actions taken by the company to address the problem as of April 2006. Extent of the security breach on the LexisNexis database and its impact; Statement from Leo Cronin, senior director of information security at LexisNexis, regarding the company's approach to information security prior to the incident; Efforts taken by the company to ramp up security.

The article examines the role of Universal Serial Bus (USB) in becoming a potential source of computer security breaches. USB is a device that protects information stored on the database. With the use of USB port, computer users can transfer or copy data to and from other computers with less hassle. However, USB can be used in transferring sensitive information from the computer. Business enterprises should be aware in the use of USB by one of their employees as a way of stealing information from the database.

The article focuses on information security, with the view that Corporate America is doing enough to protect its data. Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this year have left managers hurriedly peering into their labyrinthine IT systems and business processes in search of potential vulnerabilities. Until California recently passed a law, American firms did not have to tell anyone, even the victim, when data went astray. That may change fast: lots of proposed data-security legislation is now doing the rounds in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, the theft of information about some 40m credit-card accounts in America, disclosed on June 17th, overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security. The FTC decided to settle with BJ's Wholesale Club, a retailer whose lax data-protection practices the agency said constituted an "unfair practice that violated federal law." In its settlement with BJ's, the FTC used its broad "fairness authority" to penalise bad information-security management. For the FTC to act, this requires evidence both of substantial consumer harm and that the firm did not have reasonable grounds for failing to implement certain practices. Diana Glassman, a data protection expert, says that a useful first step would be for the boss to write to all employees reminding them of the risks and potential cost of data leakage, and asking them, before passing data to anyone else, to question whether that person truly needs, or is entitled to, it.

Details the findings of the Summer 2002 Database Developers survey from Evans Data Corp. regarding the increase in direct security breaches against databases in the U.S. Percentage of respondents that rate dynamic page creation as critical and first in importance of features found in a database.

The article discusses the discovery of additional corporate customer information data breaches by the JPMorgan bank after its JPMorgan Corporate Challenge race website was hacked by Internet criminals. User certificates administered by the Simmco Data Systems firm are said to have been stolen and later used to access some JPMorgan servers according to the "Wall Street Journal." Chief operating officer Matt Zames and information security officer Greg Rattray worked with Simmco on the matter.

The article provides ideas and warnings on the use of social media and on the issue of data theft. The author discusses legal cases relating to the use of social media, including Crisp v Apple, and Whitham v Club 24, along with a discussion on the decision of the employment tribunal in each case. She also explains the prosecution of Pickles for illegally taking sensitive information on employees before working on a new employer.

The article discusses the biggest information security threats for 2014. The agreement of major security companies that smartphones will be the number one target in 2014 is tackled. The impact of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to end the support for Windows XP on businesses and hospitals is discussed. Also tackled is how football fans can be scammed by accepting match tickets, cheap flights and accommodation in the World Cup.

The article reports that the nationwide data breaches involving a subsidiary of LexisNexis is publicized by the New Hampshire attorney general's office. It states that LexisNexis has distributed letters warning consumers and affected states that the databases maintained by Seisint Inc. may have been used by scammers on June 23, 2009. The IDG News Service emphasizes that the company has notified 13,000 consumers nationwide on the possible vulnerability of their personal information.

The article reports on the increasing number of dangerous databases that are available in Internet in the U.S. According to the author, a security company was able to assess half a million databases from 1.16 million Internet protocol (IP) addresses does not contain firewall protections wherein mostly of them are run in Microsoft SQL Servers and Oracle databases. Security researcher David Litchfield stresses that the results poses significant risks which includes the potential accessibility of computer hackers and malicious viruses. In addition, database operators and users does not initiate their own security measures and wait for their service providers to integrate system control and database protections.

The article presents admonitions concerning data security in the government agencies in the U.S. Such agencies are facing significant challenges of Internet security threats by providing secure access to employees, citizens, and worldwide suppliers. Emerging threats must be understood to teach agencies on how to protect themselves because hackers are believed to be no longer motivated by notoriety. Since information leakage has become a serious emerging threat for government agencies, employees must be restricted from accidentally or maliciously sending data to untrusted or unknown location, or to unauthorized internal recipient. Agencies need to be proactive, since hackers are found using encryption with malicious code to bypass information leak prevention technologies.

The article focuses on a law suit filed by Chris O'Keefe, an IT manager in charge of customer relationship management implementations at TIAACREF, a financial institution. O'Keefe was fired in February 2005 and filed a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaint. In June 2005, the U.S. Department of Labor dismissed O'Keefe's complaint on a technicality. An appeal is filed and O'Keefe's trial will be heard by a Department of Labor administrative law judge. The dismissal of O'Keefe was a result of an illegal data transfer by another employee, Radencovich, who was under his charge. Radencovich using a personal laptop and a few devices to work, downloaded an undetermined quantity of customer information needed to test things associated with call center projects.

The article cites instances of data theft and offers information about the effective solutions to combat them. Information breaches have been more prevalent and more visible in recent years. One of the cases cited was that of the New Jersey man Orazio Lembo, who has bribed employees of major finance companies to obtain customer and employee databases and sold them. Another data theft that impacted the global business occurred at Softbank Broadband Services company in Japan, involving an employee of its subsidiary Yahoo! Japan Corp. gave 4.6 million user accounts with financial information to the Yakuza. Among the best solutions to reduce data risk include assessments to check existing and potential vulnerabilities and implementing strong database security solutions.

The article looks at a survey of Canadian attitudes by Forrester Custom Consumer Research. 40% of Canadians will not shop online because of security fears. That is at least four times higher than those responding in Great Britain and Germany. Such cautiousness seems well founded--over half of Canadian companies say their private data are at risk of an attack, according to a separate study by Leger Marketing. Yet 64% of the Canadians surveyed by Forrester would throw caution to the wind if Web sites bore an official security mark.

A list of various courses related to the information technology industry in Great Britain is presented. The course titled "Fundamentals of Data Security and Electronic Trust" is organised by Kryptosec and is available in Gloucestershire, England. The course titled "Forensic Aspects of IT Security" is available in Oxfordshire, which provides essential foundation knowledge to handle a potential computer crime scene. The course titled "ISEB Foundation Certificate in Software Testing," will be organised by QBIT in Birmingham on September 5-7, 2006.

Discusses the issue of identity theft and what potential steps could be taken by the U.S. Congress to prevent Americans from having their identities stolen. Reports that ChoicePoint Inc. and other companies regularly sell consumer information, including Social Security numbers, and that ChoicePoint has admitted to inadvertently selling information to organized crime; Suggestion that Congress should prohibit companies from storing and selling identity information without permission and prohibit companies from using Social Security numbers as identifiers; Report that companies are often not required to report their mishandling of identity information and that thieves often apply for new credit cars with stolen identities; Review of the practice of identity theft through e-mail, online banking, and data-collection.

The article discusses the ways on how to prevent computer fraud caused by handheld electronics. According to Fabi Gower, vice president of information systems at health care recruiting firm Martin, various handheld gadgets could lead to network and data corruption. To avoid this type of problem, he offers tips on how to protect data from handheld gadget leaks. Among the tips are development of comprehensive computer security policy, prevent the unauthorized access to the network, and monitor user access.

Discusses how bankers are looking to complex software systems to spot money-laundering attempts and meet demands for reporting suspicious activity. Reasons why the market is changing fast; Focus on comprehensive packages that can be integrated across multiple business lines to provide enterprisewide protection; Views of Simon Moss, chief executive of software producer Mantas Inc., James R. Richards, global manager of anti-laundering operations at Bank of America Corporation, Peter R. Janczak, director of compliance at Marshall & Ilsley Corporation, and others; Difficulties integrating a vendor's product with systems combined through multiple mergers; How vendors are beginning to offer their anti-laundering systems as hosted services running on their own computers.

Security experts have poured cold water on media reports that claim some 20,000 Australian bank accounts have been compromised by the Sinowal Trojan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the number of credit card accounts compromised in a data breach at TJX Cos. Inc. was 94 million, more than double the 45.6 million the company reported in January 2007. The company was being sued by several banking groups, including the Massachusetts Bankers Association, who were trying to recover some of the costs associated with the breach.

The article explains that the document "Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): Addressing the Internal Threat" is an executive brief released by Princeton Softech. Companies fail to realize that 70 percent of data security breaches are from employees and internal sources. Breaches reported in the mass media has exposed the vulnerability of financial institutions, point-of-sale-systems vendors, and payment card processors who fail to secure their customers' confidential personal information. The executive brief can be downloaded in electronic form from the Princeton Softech Web site.

The article reports that the U.S. National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has notified members of the New Horizons Community Credit Union about a potential data breach of their personal financial information. The data was perhaps stolen from the laptop computer of a consultant. The stolen computer contains loan information which involves records of about 9,000 members.

The article presents the ways on how to prevent computer fraud. Experts suggest 6 ways to prevent data leaks. These include getting control on the sensitive and proprietary data, keeping track of what's flowing over the networks, monitoring user access to critical data and detecting unauthorized access to high-risk data, and centralizing intellectual property data. Details related to the 6 ways on how to stop computer threats are discussed. Information on DuPont Corp.'s experience about data leaks is included.