In this Issue: --Perspective: New for 2007 --Coming this Month --KNOW YOUR IT SECURITY Contest Winners!
Perspective: New for 2007 Happy New Year, and welcome to Security Pro VIP! You received this email newsletter because you subscribed to the Windows IT Security print newsletter, which has morphed into the online Security Pro VIP. We'll still bring you the same great content, but now it will be on the Web at the subscribers-only Security Pro VIP site.
You'll get this email newsletter the first Thursday of each month, letting you know about the articles for that month. Beginning in February, the email newsletter will have a link to a file that contains the previous month's articles in PDF format so that you can easily read and print them. So if you'd rather read January's Security Pro VIP articles in hard copy than online, you just need to wait for your February 1 email newsletter.
If you've signed up for email or RSS notification, you'll get a notice each Thursday that has a link to an article that's newly live on the Web site. Check out "Coming this Month" below to see January's schedule of articles. Otherwise, you can visit the Security Pro VIP site at your leisure to see what's new. I hope you'll visit often—to read a new article, research a topic in our archive of security articles, ask a question, or participate in the subscribers-only forum.
It wouldn't be a new year without at least a quick assessment of the current state of things. One theme of the past year in the security market seems to be consolidation. Security companies bought or merged with other security companies. As Mark Edwards describes in "Managed Services on the Rise," \[ID 94176\] Security Update, November 8, security managed services companies advanced this trend. EMC purchased RSA Security and Network Intelligence and combined them to form an information security division. Those are just a few of many examples in 2006, and this trend seems likely to continue in 2007.
Security products added features. Unified Threat Management (UTM) tools have been around for a couple years now. The appeal of purchasing one product that performs firewall, antivirus, antispam, intrusion detection and prevention, and/or other tasks instead of buying and managing multiple products is obvious. Another product combo that seemed popular last year was storage-device control and application control on the desktop. At least one product seems to combine a UTM tool with device and application control: a new version of eEye Digital Security's Blink Professional that was released in October.
Another new security product performs a different kind of consolidation. Authentium's Extensible Service Platform (ESP) for Enterprise, announced just a few weeks ago, provides a console for managing antispyware, antivirus, content-filtering, and other end-point software applications from multiple vendors. ESP for Enterprise is designed to provide one interface for managing both the security software products themselves and the licenses for those products. Vendors whose products can be managed include Authentium and Sunbelt Software. According to Authentium's Web site, vendors coming in a future ESP for Enterprise release include Computer Associates, Kaspersky Labs, and SurfControl.
Consolidation is a theme I'm thinking about as 2007 begins. I'd like to hear what security trends strike you as being important in the coming year. Email me \[[email protected]\] and let me know.
—Renee Munshi, Security Pro VIP Editor
Coming this Month
"Use SSH for Secure RDP Connections," by Russell Smith Use an SSH gateway to ensure that only trusted clients can connect via RDP to the server. The SSH gateway confirms the identity of both client and server and protects access to the Windows logon interface. This article is now live on the Web.
"Fighting Malicious Software with Windows Vista," by Jan De Clercq Windows Vista has been developed to be fundamentally more secure than previous versions of Windows. Many Vista features better prevent malware from entering the Windows system, isolate malware if it intrudes, and limit and/or remedy its harmful effects. Coming January 11.
"MOM Management Packs," by John Howie Powerfully extend monitoring with Management Packs for MOM 2005. Coming January 18.
Access Denied Randy Franklin Smith answers your Windows security questions. Coming January 25.
Reader to Reader: "Secure Remote Wireless Administration," by Josh Kunken Use the PuTTY SSH client to create an encrypted tunnel for RDP traffic over a wireless network. (Does this RDP/SSH technique sound familiar? Russell Smith also discusses it in "Use SSH for Secure RDP Connections" above. Josh tells how he puts it to good use.) Coming January 25.
KNOW YOUR IT SECURITY Contest Winners!
Congratulations to the winners of our recent Know Your IT Security contest: Rob John, Josh Kunken, John Penrose, Gregory Smith, Jim Turner, Tony Weil, and Will Willis. Their entries on a variety of topics—from creative use of a network monitor to aid in an investigation of stolen laptops to a script that takes a security snapshot of key domain groups and reports on changes—will appear on the Security Pro VIP Web site in the coming months. (Look for the first winning entry on the site January 25.) Each winner also received a Microsoft Zune, courtesy of the contest sponsor, Microsoft Learning Paths for Security. Thanks to all who participated.