When the cloud improves security

Through combined, integrated web and email protection, organisations will be in a better position to protect personal and sensitive corporate information from online and internal threats When the cloud improves security …move protection to where the threats are Executive summary Malware threats are on the rise and the attacks are growing in sophistication and complexity. Individuals and specific organisations are increasingly being targeted, using exploits that rely on more than one attack vector, often combining a phishing email with web-borne mal-ware. Many attacks today play to human nature, using social engineering techniques to trick users into giving away information or download-ing content riddled with a malicious payload. This paper discusses how security threats are emerging and the importance of combining protection against email and web-borne attacks since today's threats increasingly use a combination of the two vectors. This makes them harder to detect and mitigate, leaving organisations that are relying on traditional security protections exposed. Since fighting malware infections is not a core competency of most organisations, especially small and medium ones, the answer for many will be to subscribe to the services of an expert services provider with its own array of resources based in the cloud. • The majority of organisations have deployed protection for their email communications, but many of these are based on outdated technology that is not up to the job of protecting against the complex threats seen today. • Malware delivered over the web is an even more serious problem, but not enough organisations are taking the threats seriously. • New technologies on the market are available to mitigate those threats, combining protection for email communications and web-based applications and content. • New technology delivery mechanisms offered as a service take much of the pain out of the fight to keep threats at bay and are suited for even the smallest of organisations. The bottom line With attacks increasingly targeted at specific individuals or organisations, even the smallest organisation cannot afford to be complacent. However, many lack the resources to adequately protect themselves. The answer is to outsource email and web protection to a service provider with data centres based in the cloud—taking protection to where the threats are coming from to prevent bad traffic from ever reaching the organisation and helping to ensure that sensitive data cannot inadvertently be leaked. When the cloud improves security …move protection to where the threats are Today's …