IT Security

Thursday, 21 January 2010 13:55

The escalating costs of not investing in IT security

The far-reaching effects of security breaches can total millions of Rands in costs. Lost business can result due to the unavailability of information resources, theft of valuable data, or because customer accounts flee to environments that are perceived to be safer. There is also the implication of lost productivity of staff and the labour costs of IT staff. This on top of associated legal, insurance and public relations costs.

In a report by the Ponemon Institute, which conducts independent research on privacy, data protection and information security policy, the total cost of coping with a single security breach was estimated at $6.6 million per breach during 2008.

Despite this, spend on IT security is being frozen or even cut. This has the potential to create a vicious cycle of breach and repair that will cost far more than an organisation’s initial spend on prevention.

The 5th annual ITWeb Security Summit, taking place from 11 – 13 May 2010 at the Sandton Convention Centre, will explore how information security professionals need to respond to increasing security threats from both a business management as well as a technical perspective.

This high profile, three-day conference and business exhibition will bring together local and international IT and security professionals, practitioners, experts and analysts to share their experiences as well as the latest tools and techniques available for safeguarding information.

The conference will feature some of the world’s leading information security experts and cyber crime specialists, including Dr. Charlie Miller, Moxie Marlinspike and Felix 'FX' Lindner. They’ve challenged convention, caused controversy and outwitted some of the sharpest criminal minds and sophisticated computer programmes in existence.

Dr. Charlie Miller, Independent Security Evaluators
Charlie Miller is a computer security researcher. Previously he spent five years working for the National Security Agency. Miller is known for publicly demonstrating his hacks on products manufactured by Apple, including the iPhone and the MacBook Air.

Moxie Marlinspike, Independent Computer Security Researcher
Moxie Marlinspike’s published research tends to deal with secure protocols, particularly SSL/TLS. He does security consulting and penetration testing and offers training on designing secure protocols. He is the author of the sslsniff and sslstrip tools.

Felix ‘FX’ Lindner, Recurity Labs
FX is the technical and research lead of Recurity Labs and has 18 years computer technology experience with a special emphasis on security planning, implementation, operation and testing using advanced methods in diverse technical environments.

Highlights of the 2010 ITWeb Security Summit include:

-          A two-day, independent conference which explores current security threats and delivers vendor-neutral expertise through a comprehensive line-up of international and local security experts.
-          A two-day exhibition showcasing the latest information security technologies, products and professional services.
-          A vendor track in the exhibition area.
-          A selection of information workshops on the third day.

“This interactive event tackles issues in a very practical sense and the 2010 programme is set to deliver another captivating mixture of world-leading speakers and industry leaders who are not afraid to tackle hard-hitting truths and threats,” says Angela Wressell, Conference and Event Director at ITWeb. “It will enable and empower attendants from every sector of commerce and industry with the knowledge they need to deal with information security threats to their business,” adds Wressell.

The ITWeb Security Summit is one of South Africa’s premier IT events and is a must for executives and business owners who are responsible for securing their organisation’s assets and infrastructure. Get a first hand account of the latest technologies, products and professional services in information security at the ITWeb Security Summit, 11 – 13 May 2010 at the Sandton Convention Centre.

For further information and conference bookings visit www.itweb.co.za.

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