While there is no silver bullet to prevent all attacks, Symantec's latest survey proves that following best practices is a better defense than skimping on the protections.

Investing in multiple layers of security to protect endpoints and the data stored on them tend to pay off in mitigating cyber-attacks and reducing downtime, according to a recent Symantec suvey.

However, if there are security gaps, the breach can be quite costly.

Organizations that invested in stronger defenses and trained its employees to be more self-conscious were in a better position to stop or survive attacks, Symantec found in its Endpoint Protection Best Practices survey, released Jan. 17.  

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The Department of State has issued this Worldwide Caution to update information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world. U.S. citizens are reminded to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness. This replaces the Worldwide Caution dated July 26, 2011, to provide updated information on security threats and terrorist activities worldwide.

Transparency International interviewed over 6000 individuals across Southern Africa in countries including South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe to identify the public's perspective on corruption and how it affects their lives. 

Read the attached pdf for the full report.

Do not fall into a trap such as the one highlighted by the Department of Public Works recent audit.  NSA RM are able to assist companies ensure that policies and procedures are in place to prevent the loss of assets (even immovable ones!) 

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Fraudsters are increasingly using alternative payment methods to make bogus transactions, in many cases moving away from debit cards and checks, merchants report.

Alternative payment methods, such as eBay Inc.'s PayPal, are often pitched as a safer option for online payments than cards and checks, since they allow consumers to make purchases without exposing their bank account details to the seller. But merchants that use alternative systems report that fraudsters are increasingly turning their attention to them.

Merchants that accept alternative payments reported in July that 27% of fraud takes place with those products, up from 20% a year earlier, according to data from Javelin Strategy & Research. Credit, debit and check transactions all showed declines in fraud occurrences among merchants that accept them.

The events of 9/11 could not have been predicted or prepared for by anyone. Yet these events have forced American corporates to re-examine their risk management policies and procedures. Steve van Aswegen encourages South African corporates to act now and prepare for unexpected events through vigilant security practices, not to wait till tragic circumstances force their hand.  

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Steve van Aswegen of NSA RM was recently heard saying that hotels are meant to be safe havens for visitors but often companies have not considered the risk to employees when they travel.  In conjunction with NSA a new secure travel service has been launched and can be used to ensure that employees are staying at safe hotels when they travel.

A comprehensive secure travel policy should be created for all companies said Steve.  Executives can sleep more easily knowing where employees are and that they are safe when travelling for business reasons.  

Corporate organisations need to assess all aspects of risk when considering their security plans said Steve van Aswegen, General Manager of NSA Risk Management.  He was commenting on a recent announcement by the South Korean communications regulator who said that hackers from China had attacked an Internet portal and blogging site operated by SK Comms, accessing the personal information of up to 35 million users in what could be the country's biggest cyber attack so far.

Steve van Aswegen, General Manager of NSA Risk Management has said that In today’s competitive and electronic times, industrial espionage is no longer something that is only happening in the movies or within the large corporate circles.  We are seeing more and more cases of espionage in the everyday environment and in fact, many individuals are subject to phishing...Read More

Nicholls Steyn Risk Management Services attended the ITWeb Security Summit 2011 and presented a paper on "Information Warfare: new rules for a new world".

For your convenience, we have now placed the speakers' presentations online for you to download...Read More

Steve van Aswegen of NSA Risk Management has urged companies to pay particular attention to where employees will be travelling.  Many natural disasters can often not be avoided, but where intelligence is available for areas such as the African Coast and Libya, companies need to have travel guidelines prepared for their staff...Read More