Verizon's 2010 Data Breach Report and Desktop Security

If you have not read the Verizon 2010 Data Breach Investigations Report (a study conducted by the Verizon RISK Team in cooperation with the United States Secret Service), it is time to download and read this report and give it some attention. This report is comprehensive and is of great value for IT security specialists. The information is an eye-opener and guides management in the correct direction when trying to find the best solution to secure their IT infrastructure. One caveat to take away from this report is to make sure that you do not forget about desktop security in your IT environment. An excerpt of the Verizon report states: Losing track of network connections and accounts seems to be a persistent problem for data breach victims. Data loss linked to cases involving “unknown privileges” rocketed up again to 90%. In the past we’ve recommended practices like asset discovery, network and data flow analysis, and user account reviews, and we’d be remiss not to restate their value here. Desktop privileges are an area that requires great focus on security and compliance. Many Admins consider desktops the “Wild West,” simply because they never knew what they were going to encounter on a user’s workstation. Various users download anything (e.g., iTunes, games, or applications) which all could violate security and compliance regulations in an organization. As innocent as these actions may seem, downloading music software or social media applications onto desktops can make the enterprise liable for any wrongdoing that may occur.