Hosting.Com Adds Additional Security To Its Network To Mitigate Increased Risk Of Cyber Attacks
Hosting.com Forms Relationship with Leader in Preemptive, Enterprise Security, Internet Security Systems, Inc. (ISS) to Block Hundreds of Thousands of Internet Viruses
August 22, 2006 - (Louisville, KY) - Hosting.com, Inc., a global leader in managed hosting and colocation, has added to its security arsenal best-of-breed Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) services through a relationship with the managed security services division of Internet Security Systems, Inc (ISS). Delivered through the "Powered By ISS" program, the IPS applications allow Hosting.com to more proactively block viruses, worms, and spyware at the network layer, preventing installation and download on its customers' servers. With the "Powered By ISS" program, ISS is enabling a wide range of service and technology providers to protect their customers with best-of-breed security. The security upgrades are already blocking hundreds of thousands of additional Internet viruses daily in Hosting.com's data centers around the country.
"During these times of heightened security risks to the U.S., public and private companies across the country are facing increasing pressure to upgrade their network security," said Darren King, President and CEO of Hosting.com. "Working with the pioneering and most well-respected internet security company, ISS, we are taking the extra step in protecting our customers' web assets against vulnerabilities such as cyber viruses, proprietary information theft and denial of service attacks, among others."
Maximizing network availability has become a critical topic for companies of all sizes in all types of businesses. High profile cyber attacks such as MySpace.com's recent Flash-based worm that redirected more than 1 million users to a phony website and the infectious Zotob worm that compromised communications systems at CNN, the Associated Press and the New York Times in 2005 are becoming a daily reality.
Likewise, network downtime in today's marketplace can lead to significant businesses losses. The CSI/FBI 2005 Computer Crime and Security Survey confirms that:
- Between 2004 and 2005, nine out of ten U.S. businesses experienced losses from a computer virus, spyware or other attack.
- The average cost of financial losses resulting from security breaches in 2005 by major U.S. companies was reported at $204,000.
- Unauthorized access and denial of service attacks (DOS) are the most significant contributors to computer crime losses, accounting for 24 percent of overall reported losses, and showing a significant increase in average dollar loss.
Already an industry leader in providing 100% network uptime, Hosting.com has taken the extra step of adding an additional layer of protection to its network. "Choosing the best managed security services provider was a necessity," said King. "With ISS' proven internet security solutions for 15 of the largest governments around the world, 17 of the world's largest banks, 11 of the world's largest public insurance companies and 13 of the world's largest IT companies, we know that we've selected the best."
As a vulnerability and threat research pioneer and global leader in Internet security, ISS is immediately able to identify security threats in new technology and software programs and quickly develop solutions for its customers and partners to mitigate potential threats. The additional security measures that Hosting.com has put into place ensure that security threats are not only identified, but are also blocked at the network level. Therefore, malicious system attacks through the proactive uncovering and leveraging of security weaknesses are prevented before they access a customer's network. According to ISS and its X-Force research and development group, in just the first half of this year, ISS has already documented almost 4,000 vulnerabilities, adding to its total database of approximately 30,000 vulnerabilities, confirming the need for enhanced security features and ongoing system improvements.
"The crumbling of the traditional enterprise network perimeter, resulting from greater worker mobility and connectivity, is adding new layers of complexity for security professionals," said Dave McGinnis, director of Managed Security Services architecture at Internet Security Systems. "ISS is therefore seeing increased demand for more innovative means of protecting data and systems, much of which has focused on delivering protection via service providers from the data center."
Advice on protection against cyber attacks
Hosting.com also offers the following advice to its customers on other ways to protect against cyber attacks and malicious network threats.
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Conduct Regular Security Audits.
A security audit is a technical assessment of a company's entire security network. The audit should evaluate how the company is doing in following its pre-established security procedures. Questions to be asked and assessed regarding the company's network might be related to the proper use and setting of passwords and codes by employees, elimination of non-essential software applications, assessment of backup storage procedures, software patch updates, disaster recovery plan assessments, and customer application security flaw testing. Companies of all sizes, with or without an official IT department, should regularly conduct security audits. Depending on the scope of the audit and the demands on the IT department, an outside security auditor may or may not want to be brought in to conduct this audit.
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Penetration Testing or "Pen-Tests"
The test is an authorized attempt from the outside to break through a company's firewall. Typical penetration tests will identify a company's internet security vulnerabilities. With a variety of ways to conduct this type of testing, it is advisable for companies to understand the various methodologies associated with each test. Consulting a third party contractor is most advisable for assistance with penetration testing.
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Disaster Recovery Plan Testing
Hackers are not the only threat to today's internet security. Natural disasters are increasingly becoming an issue and affecting company's entire networks. Hurricanes, heat-related power outages and flooding can cause entire networks to go down for hours on end. It is advisable to ensure that your hosting company or internal server network has immediate failover procedures in place to ensure that your data is quickly transferred to another network in a different geographic region. It is also important to regularly plan disaster recovery tests. Generally this entails backing up your existing server, implementing a pre-meditated crash of your primary server, and application start-up and data restoration on a new server. These tests can be conducted in an environment that protects your existing data by doing them transparently. Again, it is advisable to work with a third party contractor or your hosting company to determine the best testing methods.
About Hosting.com
Since 1996, Hosting.com, the First Name in Hosting, has provided award-winning dedicated hosting, managed hosting, colocation, disaster recovery and business continuance services to a global customer base demanding a high level of security, reliability and responsiveness. Hosting.com monitors, manages, and enhances the web based platforms of Web 2.0 companies, software as a service providers (SaaS), content distribution networks (CDN), and medium to large enterprises whose web presence is crucial and high availability mandatory. Hosting.com currently owns and operates its proprietary content delivery grid (CDG) via data center facilities in Louisville, Kentucky; Irvine, California; San Francisco, California; and Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.hosting.com or call the company at 800-446-7627.
About Internet Security Systems, Inc.
Internet Security Systems, Inc. (ISS) is the trusted security advisor to thousands of the world's leading businesses and governments, providing preemptive protection for networks, desktops and servers. An established leader in security since 1994, the ISS Proventia® integrated security platform automatically protects against both known and unknown threats, keeping networks up and running and shielding customers from online attacks before they impact business assets. ISS products and services are based on the proactive security intelligence of its X-Force® research and development team - the unequivocal world authority in vulnerability and threat research. The ISS product line is complemented by comprehensive Managed Security Services and Professional Security Services. For more information, visit the Internet Security Systems Web site at www.iss.net or call 800-776-2362.
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