Network Security
Planning & Management
Spam
Spam is probably the biggest security threat that you organization faces today. Spam is used for various endeavors —from delivering the infamous “Enlargement ads” to getting users to give up personal information such as bank account numbers. This is the first and largest front in the battle against security threats.
After reading news like this, “Spam Campaign Surfs Web on Your Behalf,” it is easy to see how dangerous spam has become. I agree that the Web is the propagation vehicle of choice for malware writers today, but often the delivery of Web threats starts by email. Instead of sending the malware file directly, the email includes a link to a Web site that downloads the file to the PC. This sounds similar, but it has a huge implication for security administrators: Web and email protection have to work together seamlessly. Your security system needs to protect users both from receiving the infectious email and from downloading the threat from the link.
The same thing goes for phishing site ads (spam) sent by email. Phishing emails generally use social engineering tricks to coax recipients into clicking on the link in the email, which brings the user to a phishing Web site designed to capture private information (either through malware or a form).
When Aperio was trying to find a comprehensive solution to combat Spam we continually kept coming back to Trend Micro’s products. We found that Trend Micro and Cisco had put together a plan to battle Spam together as well as other security threats. We became partners for both companies because of that comprehensive plan.
