The security  landscape has changed dramatically in the last 18 months. I.T. departments face new challenges in locking down corporate data as remote devices and palm-sized portable storage become more pervasive. Security software vendors are retooling their products to confront more-sophisticated threats.
Experts warn that security preparedness is falling into two camps -- the haves and the have nots. While I.T. departments are becoming more successful in protecting corporate networks and shielding their branch office LANs from blended threats, enterprise security can no longer be viewed as an isolated entity separated from clients' and consumers' computers by a firewall .
The corporate threat level is rising as a result of the growing divide between consumers who are security savvy and those who are clueless. Perhaps most at risk are small and medium-sized businesses. Like many consumers, these entrepreneurs have trusted a single out-of-the-box security product that no longer provides adequate safety.
"There is a big lack of consumer savvy about security," says Francis deSouza, vice president of Enterprise Message Solutions for Symantec. "This is an urgent need. Consumers are being hit with many of the same types of threats enterprise faces, like spam, Trojans, and reputation filtering."
As older network security measures give way to newer strategies, I.T. departments will move away from traditional multiple endpoint products in favor of all-in-one security suites. And as the industry consolidates security solutions, network managers will place more attention on protections within the rim rather than keeping their big guns working as perimeter defenders.
Taking Control
One of the most prevalent trends on the enterprise level is expanding control of networks. Security vendors are developing better products to help organizations control which devices can access their networks.
"The hot market for the next 18 months will be Network Access Control (NAC)," says Mitchell Ashley, CTO of StillSecure, a network-security services provider. "We are seeing spending grow from $320 million to $4 billion in this area."
Software giant Microsoft is working on its own system to control network access, which it calls Network Access Protection (NAP). One of Microsoft's approaches will be a policy-enforcement platform built its new operating system, Vista, and into the new Windows Server operating system. (continued...)
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