A leading threat management company found that security administrators increasingly face threats from viruses, hacking and DNS system attacks as they embrace the Web 2.0 technology used on popular social networking websites.
Many of the attacks are profit-driven and exploit flaws in website design, said Watchguard Technologies, which supplies security for companies worldwide.
“The increase in the range and sophistication of threats, combined with more complex architectures and the move to Web 2.0, will make the job of securing enterprise networks more difficult than ever before,” said Steve Fallin, director of the company’s rapid response team.
“Other factors putting organisations at more risk include increased levels of remote access, continued poor user behaviour and the shift from hobby hackers to organised crime.”
The focus of many attacks – often targeting personal information – is said to have shifted from user desktops to applications running on the web server and the data systems that back them up.
“The last few years have seen a considerable change in the nature of security challenges faced by the internet enabled enterprise,” said Fallin.
“As we are now on the verge of widespread adoption of Web 2.0, with its promise of the collaborative enterprise, it is vital to adapt enterprise security to address the threats posed by a Web 2.0 world.”
Increasingly complex architectures, over-generous user rights and the success of phishing attacks are all cited as network weaknesses.