Security remains top of mind among security business and technology executives. But how does this trickle down to users and their managers?

Enterprise Innovation conducted a survey of readers to determine the extent to which users are familiar with tools, policies and processes as it relates to security in the enterprise.

How many IT staff do you have dedicated to security?

Among 316 respondents to the survey, about 60% have a small team of between one to five persons within their IT organization to look after the security of their infrastructure. Almost 28 percent claim to have a larger team dedicated to security. Twelve percent do not have a dedicated security staff in their IT organization.

“Except for the very large organizations that truly have a dedicated security team, most so-called security experts in IT organizations actually perform several jobs, security being one of them,” said Henry Ng, Professional Services Manager, Asia, Verizon Business. “Compared to the US, there are very few companies in Asia where a Chief Information Security Officer or CISO is employed to oversee the security initiatives of the company. In the organizations where such a role exists, the CISO often reports directly to the CEO rather than the CIO.”

Do you struggle to consistently measure security across your enterprise?

Over 51 percent admit that they lack the ability to adequately measure security across the enterprise. Add to this the 24.6 percent of respondents who are uncertain as to how to measure security and you have a population of 75.6 percent of respondents who struggle with measuring security.

This suggests lack of internal awareness of the tools, policies and best practices to enable accurate measurement, and also implies the inability to justify further investments in security beyond basic security tools like anti-virus software, intrusion detection and intrusion prevention solutions.

How do you measure security? Some point solution vendors measure this by the number of incidents that are tracked and/or stopped at the door.

Ng says that his team is often invited to meet customers to solve specific security problems. “When it comes to security, most organizations act in response to specific events. Only a few, and mostly those from very large enterprises headquartered in the US or Europe, have a security strategy beyond the basics,” Ng adds.

Can you effectively demonstrate risk reduction and an improved security posture?

The simplest way to demonstrate risk reduction is by keeping your anti-virus software updated. Most corporate users have this process automated for them by IT. As soon as a user logs in to the network, the client anti-virus software scans the server for any updates. Surprisingly only 38.6 percent of respondents claim to be able to demonstrate this posture.

Andrew Walls, Research Director on Security, Risk & Privacy at Gartner, says the only way to demonstrate risk reduction and security performance is to have an effective Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) program.

Gartner research has identified strong benefits in the level of security assurance and the containment of security costs produced through a well-managed SIEM program.

Walls warns that the metrics must be driven by business priorities with the raw metrics (gathered from technical security systems and processes) analyzed and translated into business terminology.

Do you need assistance or support for internal or external audits?

A little over 41 percent believe they need assistance with regards to internal or external audits. Over 42 percent claim they don’t need support while almost 15 percent remain uncertain.

On the subject of international standards for information security, Walls notes that Asia tends to be less transparent concerning policies, processes and standards. “The tendency of Asian organizations to avoid exposing internal security practices in public setting leads to some conflicts when western organizations seek to perform security risk assessments and compliance audits. The lack of transparency is often interpreted as a lack of security enforcement within the organization which can lead to adverse audits,” he adds.

Do you have to adhere to standards such as Payment Card Data Security Standard, ISO 27001 or others?

Only 20.5 percent of respondents confirm they comply with specific security standards. The standards with the most mentions are ISO 27001 and BS7799.

Close to 54 percent believe they are not mandated to comply with any security standards. Over a quarter of the survey respondents are uncertain whether their organizations should support any standard at all.

It is human nature that we operate in reactive mode, particularly when it comes to security. It should not surprise us that the aftermath of September 11, 2001, companies were scrambling to assess and deploy security policies and processes. Likewise, after the Boxing Day earthquake in Taiwan on December 26, 2006 that knocked out the undersea communication cables, people scrambled to figure out if their systems were compromised.

Do you have a structured process or methodology for managing enterprise-wide security initiatives?

Having a structured process for managing enterprise-wide security initiatives is a rarity in Asia Pacific. Not surprisingly only 26.3 percent of respondents claim they have a structured methodology for securing the organization. Many more (38.2 percent) believe they don’t while a worrying 35.6 percent are uncertain if such a process exists at all.

The remaining two groups total 73.8 percent – a figure which should be a cause for concern for regulatory bodies and an opportunity for security experts seeking to offer their services to the market.

Are you confident of how to prioritize security efforts and allocate resources?

The ability to prioritize implies knowledge. The survey respondents clearly underestimate the size and complexity of executing security policies and strategies. About 45 percent of respondents claim they are confident they know how to prioritize security initiatives and allocate resources.

In reality, based on discussions with experts this is often not the case. It is possible that this perception is largely in the belief that security is nothing more than deploying a combination of anti-virus, intrusion detection and prevention solutions.

Do you find your existing security controls effective in protecting you against threats, worms and viruses?

The majority (61.9 percent) of respondents believe that their current setup is effective in controlling breaches caused by worms and viruses. They say it was over confidence that spelt the demise of Napoleon

Only a minority (17.9 percent) are pessimistic about their infrastructure’s ability to contain and counter threats and a slightly higher percentage (20.3%) remain uncertain as to the effectiveness of their security initiatives.

Do you have third party validation or certification to provide or meet compliance requirements?

The confidence of respondents as to the effectiveness of their security initiative is dampened by the inability to actively measure or validate the effectiveness of security measures as it relates to meeting compliance requirements.

Only 35.7 percent of respondents have third party validation process in place. Forty-four percent do not use external organizations and this may be substantiated by the 42.7 percent who don’t use an external auditor to check their security posture and the 53.9 percent who do not need to comply with any standards.

The remaining 20.3 percent are not sure if their organization are using third parties to conduct certification.

Numerous third party certifications are available in the market for all sorts of security processes. “However, they are only valuable as proof of compliance if the certification is based on the regular assessment of all security practices that are relevant to the standard being applied. The quality of the assessment is totally dependent on the issues raised above: transparency and maturity,” warns Walls.

According to Walls, if an organization is not fully transparent during a certification assessment, they may receive the certification but then fail a compliance audit. Transparency is an absolute necessity if your organization is seriously dedicated to managing security risk.

“If the security program does not have well-documented and consistently enforced policies, standards and procedures, then the certification will be based on hearsay and personal assurances by staff. This will not be sufficient to pass a compliance audit,” explains Walls.

Compliance is easy if you have a mature and transparent security program with effective metrics. If you do not have these, audits will always be a struggle.

Market Analysis

How much are companies spending on security solutions? According to IDC, $2.9 billion were spent on IT security solution across Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) in 2006. This number is expected to nearly double to $5.9 billion by 2011.

The IDC Asia/Pacific Communication Study of 2006 showed that “Introduction of viruses” was the top threat by a large margin. This signals that despite the maturation of the secure content management (SCM) technology (which includes antivirus, web-filtering and messaging security); viruses are still considered a very real threat to the enterprise IT infrastructure.

This is followed by “corruption or replication of data” and “external hacking”. It is also noteworthy that “employee sabotage” also made it high on the list as the enterprises in APEJ have traditionally focused on perimeter defense, or what is commonly known as the strategy to “keep the bad stuff out”.

This result shows that many enterprises now realize that there is a need to put in place controls to “keep the good stuff in” too.

Willie Low, IDC Senior Market Analyst of the Asia/Pacific Infrastructure Software Research, says viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other malware will continue to be top of mind issues for end-users. “However, the increasing use of RSS feeds, mashups, blogging, Web 2.0 and other interactive technologies at work will introduce new security challenges to many IT managers and not many organizations are prepared for that,” he warns.

“It is no coincidence that we are seeing numerous information protection and control solutions (data loss prevention systems being a type of IPC solution) being introduced to the market lately. We can expect to see more in the coming months,” concludes Low.

According to Gartner, the top 3 security issues or initiatives for 2008 in Asia are:

New approaches to IT delivery are exploding into the market. Software as a Service, Virtualization, On Demand Infrastructure, Managed Services, Social Networks, Grid computing and Virtual Worlds can provide enormous benefits in terms of performance and cost, but they also require new approaches to security. To get the benefits companies need to move aggressively to improve their security operation.

The rising prominence of organized crime in network-based attacks is creating new, more focused and effective attack strategies. Mitigation of this threat can only be achieved through a responsive, coordinated and enterprise-wide security program.

IT initiatives continue to take place without sufficient, early involvement of security in the design process. It costs far more to secure a system that is about to be deployed than it costs to secure a system that is about to be designed!

Conclusion

Walls warns that it is impossible to generalize across all of Asia the quality of security practices. He reminds us that as with other areas of business operations, different communities have advanced more rapidly than others due to a variety of factors.

“In general, deployment of security policies, processes and methodologies is performed well in the principal financial centers in Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Shanghai. The need for security activities is driven by the risk appetite of the business leaders of a company. As organizations grow in size, they tend to become more conservative and risk averse. As a result they demand higher levels of security assurance,” observes Walls.

It is therefore natural that companies in financial centers have higher levels of security activities than other industries.

In 2006, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CCB) conducted a comprehensive examination of its information security environment. The exercise culminated in the company achieving Cybertrust Security Management Program (SMP) certification.

According to Chang Ruu-tian, executive vice president of Chinatrust Commercial Bank, “CCB was able to thoroughly reinforce its information security management program with expertise that help pinpoint weaknesses of existing external information systems, track records of improvements and examine the underlying causes of the problems.”

The result is a clean bill of health the bank uses to position itself as one of the most secure financial institutions in Taiwan.

Ng suggests that successful security initiatives have several characteristics that ensure they survive beyond the discussion tables (whether at the Boardroom or at the war room where execution begins). “The approach can only be holistic – no piece meal tactical approach can survive long. It must have a starting baseline from which success or failure can be measured against. Initiatives need to be reviewed regularly against prevailing (and perhaps even speculative) conditions,” concludes Ng.

Walls offers five best practices in creating and deploying a security initiative:

Understand the business priorities that are driving the initiative.

Determine how you will measure the success or failure of the initiative and negotiate these metrics with the business stakeholders

Prioritize vendors that have local support organizations to assist with design, deployment and management

Involve business leaders and users in the deployment plan to obtain organizational support

Call high, call wide, call often! Make sure that everyone from the CEO down are aware of their role in the initiative and are regularly updated on progress.

Whichever you want to listen to, you have to begin and that time should be yesterday.

For those who use the internet a great deal the number of security features that are included in social networking site software should seem like no big surprise. After all, there is encryption, spam filters, CAPCHA codes, and even passwords that are all used to help ensure that you can stay safe. All of these features are typically standard on any website, regardless of whether it is social networking or not. However, taking security a bit further social networking site software also typically allows users the ability to block or restrict access from users that they do not know.

To give real life examples let us look at Facebook, this is one of the largest social networking sites that is designed primarily for high school and college students. The site generally restricts all access to someone’s profile page until you are added as a friend. However once you have been added as a friend of the user you can view their page, leave them comments and even send them a message. You are also able to see their other friends as well, but again unless they are your friend as well you cannot see their page. This type of security is essential to help keep personal information private.

In a world where scams abound on the internet, there are plenty of people who are not always wise in their decisions about what information to share. For example, leaving your e-mail address, home address, phone number or full name on a page that is wide open to the public is about as wise as actually posting your bank account information or even your social security number. Limiting the ability for strangers to see your information is essential to stay safe and all good social networking site software will give you this ability.

MySpace handles the security issues a bit differently; they allow you to set for yourself who is allowed to see your page. You can restrict it to friends only, as well as everyone. In addition, you are able to limit whom you would like to allow to request friendship from you. This can help you to avoid spammers, as well as reduce the chances of having a person who is inappropriate gain access to your profile page. When you look at these features combined together with the standard safety measures that most websites have in addition to common sense you are left with a very comprehensive social networking site software package that keeps you safe.

However, taking the software for granted is never wise. There are always ways that people can hack into accounts and still gain access to information. Giving too much personal information on your profile page is never wise regardless of which site you are using. Too many mistakes can occur that can be quite devastating if you are not able to take control over your own personal information. It is essential that you never rely solely on the security measures that are in place within social networking site software; instead consider these to be additional tools that you use in conjunction with your own common sense to ensure your safety.

You should also take full advantage of all security features and restrictions for any account that you are creating for a child. Letting a very young child use social networking can be a great way to allow them to learn how to stay in touch with family, but keeping your family protected is also a very large step towards ensuring that they stay safe. The tools that are available within the sites can be a huge step towards that process and with a bit of education on the proper safety procedures on the internet can have even young children safety engaged in the social networking site software like a professional with no complications and no safety risk.

There are three main ways that identity theft can occur from your internet usage:

-Phishing. You receive an email from one of the more well known online services or your bank, warning you with the message that your bank or other account may have been compromised, then asking you to clink a link and “log-in” If you follow those instructions, you end up providing a third party with your account information and access. I have most often received this type of message from a group alleging to be “PayPal,” however I have also received it from an entity pretending to be a local credit union.

- Spyware: You may not even know that this is on your computer without a spyware detection system. This software is used to record keystrokes to obtain either personal and financial information whenever you shop or bank online. It can also be used to access confidential information on your hard drive.

- Spoofing: A legitimate internet site will be “hi-jacked”, redirecting people to a fake internet site where they are asked to provide confidential information.

It is important when shopping for your anti virus software to make sure that it contains protection against these dangers and includes regular updates. One of the many antivirus systems currently available is PC Security Shield 2008. This system, like many others, offers: anti virus, spyware and adware protection, personal firewall, automatic daily updates, your choices of real time, and/or scheduled scanning, as well as parental controls. You may complete your purchase of the software online or via telephone and then download the anti virus software to your personal computer.

However, what is unique about this service is:

1. You may purchase your service either monthly or yearly; with most services you must purchase one full year.

2. If a virus does occur, Security Shield provides a “patch” within 2-3 hours and a complete repair of the virus within 5 hours. According to PC Professionals Security Shield, using F-Secure technology responds 3-4 times faster in repairing viruses as well as updates customer’s service with the latest antivirus protection “twice” as often as other anti virus software systems. (PC Professionals, Issue Aug. 2006)

3. The software uses a Bayesian filter as well as a “blacklist” of sites that send unsolicited email for use in phishing schemes and stores these emails in a separate folder for your safety.

4. With the PC Security Shield 2008 Parental Control features, parents can not only block web sites that contain specific content, such as pornography, weapons or drugs, but they can also set specific times of day when the internet may not be used. This is especially important for those late nights or directly after school when parents may not be present.

5. No additional or hidden charges for the technical support services assistance, in contrast to other businesses whose anti virus programs charge an additional amount to correct virus or spyware damage either per minute or per event.

Technical support for this system includes an online product guide, instant chat, email and telephone support as well as a Frequently Asked Questions site. However, the telephone support does not have a toll free number. The chat online support responds quickly, however you should have your product codes available. My hold time via telephone support was a little more than 5 minutes, which is longer than I would like to hold, but I have held longer for utilities and cable. Be sure to check the website for system requirements; however, they seem to be the standard for any anti virus software system that you may be considering for purchase.

The cost for this service is currently $39.99/year after a $20.00 mail in rebate. The rebate is offered after 90 days of service and after ending your pre-existing anti virus software support with any one of those listed by PC Security Shield. You may also purchase a monthly service program for $5.99 a month for one computer or $9.99 a month for up to three computers.

My favorite feature with this service is not only than just the ability to control web content, but also the times that my children are permitted to be on the web and that I can change these times according to my schedule. The other favorite feature is that it protects emails from spy ware, phishing, and keylogging types of emails through two different services, the one being up to date research and the other by compiling a log of “bad” sites that may attempt to hi jack your personal information.

To purchase this service, you simply register online, choose either monthly or a yearly subscription, confirm your purchase via email, obtain your key code and download your anti virus software system. Setting your preferences is intuitive; however, the online chat is quite helpful in providing direction.

This may be an anti virus software program most likely of interest to parents, especially with the offers of multiple computer coverage, no additional charges for technical support and the excellent extended parental controls. It protects your PC and personal data from theft, making it worth considering.

The purpose of this tutorial is to assist you in understanding:

The importance of X-Cart security

Hosting X-Cart in a secure environment

How to secure your X-Cart

Maintenance of x-cart security

The importance of X-Cart security

Website security should always be a priority, but is absolutely crucial when dealing with e-commerce stores that transact and store sensitive customer data such as email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, and credit card information. Reading through the x-cart forums you will find many x-cart store owners who have had the misfortune of having their x-cart hacked/exploited. Having worked with x-cart since 2002, I’ve had many of those store owners come to me asking what can be done to fix their store, and I have repeatedly heard the common response that nobody had ever talked to them about security and they were unaware of anything that needed to be done. Believe me when I say that if you are not aware of what is required to secure and maintain your x-cart, it is by sheer luck that your x-cart has not been hacked or exploited and it is only a matter of time before you become a victim. That said, by reading this tutorial you are well on your way to understanding and performing x-cart security to keep you and your customers safe.

Hosting X-Cart in a secure environment

The environment on which your x-cart is hosted is the base for all security, and if your host and/or server is not secure, all the security settings on your x-cart are not going to keep you from being exploited. There are generally two types of hosting: a shared server where you purchase a plan with a host and they provide you space for your site to reside on a server with many other clients, or a dedicated server, which is a computer where you can host your site(s) exclusively (a VPS is essentially a combination allowing dedicated server privileges in an environment shared with less users than with shared hosting).

Secured Shared Hosting

The main benefits of shared hosting is the reduced cost available by sharing the server with other users, and having the server company manage the server security. These same benefits can also pose a security threat however, as the sites of other clients can jeopardize your security if their sites are breached, and if you rely on a server company to secure a server and they fail to do so correctly, you can find yourself in serious trouble. To combat these potential problems, it is imperative that you host with a trusted hosting provider who makes server security a priority. View our recommended X-Cart Hosting providers.

Dedicated Server

Unmanaged

I unfortunately often see x-cart store owners establish or move to an unmanaged dedicated server without knowing the onus of security that falls on them in doing so. When working with an unmanaged server, you are responsible for ALL server security. This includes the configuration of all your server settings, as well as keeping your kernel, os, php/mysql, control panel, etc. up-to-date as new branches and patches are released. This is a daunting task for anyone not very experienced with server security, and is not recommended for the average user.

Managed

Surprisingly, having a managed server does not necessarily mean your server is secure. When purchasing a managed plan, it is important to know what the server provider will and won’t do as part of your managed plan; it is not uncommon for someone to established a managed server and setup their site(s) thinking the host will take care of security, only to find their server exploited to which the server company responds saying they only perform security tasks upon request. If you rely on your host for a fully managed security package it is important that you work with a trusted hosting provider who takes security seriously, and ensure that all aspects of security are accounted for.

Server Management Companies

Personally, I recommend an unmanaged dedicated server package and then using the services of a server management company such as EZSM or ServerWizards. These companies will configure your initial security settings, put processes in place to manage your security, and keep your server up-to-date as upgrades and patches are made available.

How to secure your X-Cart

After securing the hosting environment, it is necessary to address security with x-cart itself. Taking the following steps will make great strides in securing your x-cart:

Ensure you have a secure https connection for your store using a valid SSL certificate.

Do not use the “master” x-cart admin account. To change this, login using your “master” x-cart admin account, create a new administrator with a username that is less generic. Log in as that new user and delete the “master” user account.

Immediately password protect your admin and provider directories. You can usually password protect these directories using a control panel such as cPanel, or you can use .htaccess and .htpasswd files (run a quick google search if you are unsure how).

Be aware of your site’s file permissions, as having loose file permissions in conjunction with an exploit, can allow someone to write and execute files on your website – this is a very common exploit against x-cart so take this seriously. In general your file chmod permissions should appear as follows:

File Type Permission

*.php 644

*.tpl 644

*.pl 755

*.sh 755

/catalog/ 777

/files/ 777

/images/ 777

/var/ 777

/var/* folders 777

/var/* files 666

Turn off the option of sending credit card information in e-mails in the General Settings -> E-Mail Options section of your x-cart admin section.

Unless you are using the subscriptions module, do not store credit card information in your database. To disable, or to ensure that this setting is disabled, open your config.php file and ensure the $store_cc variable is set to false:

$store_cc = false;

It is always a good idea to log into your x-cart admin section using https so that the data you transact during the x-cart session is encrypted. The following code will force your x-cart admins/providers to login using https:// by redirecting them when http:// is used.

Add this code to the .htaccess of your admin section (adjust your url):

# Force https on the admin section

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond % !443

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.your-domain.com/xcart-dir/admin/$1 [R=301,L]

Add this code to the .htaccess of your provider section (adjust your url):

# Force https on the provider section

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond % !443

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.your-domain.com/xcart-dir/provider/$1 [R=301,L]

The following .htaccess code, which can be placed in an .htaccess file in your store’s root directory (same directory as / and cart.php), will prevent access to sensitive areas of the x-cart file structure. If you are on a server that does not support .htaccess files, you will want to find alternate ways to block access to these files.

(NOTE: Change http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/ to the url to your error_message.php file.)

Options +SymlinksIfOwnerMatch -Indexes

RewriteEngine on

# Block access to sensitive directories

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/.pgp/.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/patch..*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/sql/.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/schemes/.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/skin1_original/.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/Smarty.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/upgrade/.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/var/.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

# Block access to sensitive file types

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*.(ini|tpl|sql|log|conf|bak)$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

# Block access to sensitive files

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/COPYRIGHT http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/INSTALL.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/NEW.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/README http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/UPGRADE.*$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/VERSION http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/include/version.php http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/config.php http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/top.inc.php http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

RedirectMatch permanent ^.*/install.php$ http://www.yourdomain.com/x-cart-path/error_message.php

Maintainance of x-cart security

A big mistake I see with users of software is thinking they can setup the software and run the software for an indefinite period of time. It is imperative with x-cart, and all software you run for that matter, that you apply security patches and upgrade as new releases are available. While the patches and upgrades do require time and/or money to apply, neglecting to do so can be potentially fatal to your business and they need to be made a priority.

X-Cart provides security and release bulletins that you can sign up for in your x-cart client account. Be sure to sign-up for these bulletins and stay on top of your security.

Article copyright 2007 WebsiteCM.com and may be republished provided all content is left intact including author information, copyright notice and website links.

To understand the software better, it would be appropriate to first look at its origins. Kaspersky Lab software is developed, created and distributed by the Russian technology firm Kaspersky Lab. The company is a security firm co-founded by its namesake Eugene Kaspersky and Natalia Kasperskaya in 1997. From its offices in Moscow, the software has been launched and distributed by several offices and affiliates found across the UK, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Romania, China, France and of course, the United States.

Kaspersky Lab software is a basic computer protection package offering anti-spyware and anti-virus services. The computer program has created its niche in making sure viruses are detected, quarantined and even cleaned. Aside from the basic services, Kaspersky Lab software is also reliable as an anti-spam and as an anti-intrusion computer product.

Major awards and recognitions

As always, computer protection programs are rewarded and recognized by several players, experts and industry bodies in the market. For its part, the Kaspersky Lab software package is well recognized and renowned in the market. No one will ever question the reliability of the software.

Red Herring magazine in 2005 named Kaspersky Lab software as among the in-demand and sought-after ‘Red Herring 100′ in Europe. The category is a selection of the top 100 European firms. The qualification ranged from being a technology product and at the same time a timely and effective innovation. No doubt that Kaspersky Lab software is an important and popular innovation in its own rights.

More recognition

The UK-based technology magazine PC Pro included Kaspersky Lab software, particularly the 2007 Kaspersky online security version 7 among the highly commended A List. Tests and trials about the program have found that indeed, Kaspersky Lab software is among the fastest and most effective when it comes to detection rates or different viruses.

On top of those, Kaspersky Lab software has always been topping the comparative tests conducted by the Virus Bulletin since August 2003. Global expert magazine PC World has acknowledged and described Kaspersky Lab software as the fastest updating new tool against different viruses and computer security threats.

Above all, the greatest recognition Kaspersky Lab software has received is the direct recognition from consumers themselves. The strong and constantly robust sales of the computer protection program has become a potent indication that in actuality, consumers are looking at Kaspersky Lab software as a really effective and functional anti-virus and computer protection application.

Collaboration with other software

Kaspersky Lab software is undoubtedly among the bests there are in the current market. Aside from the factors described and identified, recognition for the Kaspersky Lab software is most evident with the numerous deals Kaspersky Lab entered to allow other computer security vendors to use Kaspersky Lab software as a base for their own and respective safety programs.

Among the solutions and products that used and integrated the Kaspersky Lab software into their own systems are the Juniper Networks, Bluecoat, Check Point, Netintelligence, Sybari, F-Secure, FrontBridge, G-Data and GFI Software. All in all, there are about 120 different companies and software writers that have secured licenses to integrate and use the Kaspersky Lab software into their own systems and products.

The IT Staff is Already Busy
Employing a new technology across an entire company is very complex and very time consuming. If a company utilizes SaaS, it is much easier to roll out a new technology to a small test department, minimizing risk if it fails. However, most importantly, it won’t utilize an already overworked IT staff.

Motivation
What happens if the software or technology breaks? Your IT department, already overworked, will get to it when and if they can, depending on the needs of others in the organization and how important your issue is. In the SaaS delivery model, the vendor is very interested in keeping your business. This means that when something breaks it will get fixed right away.

Faster Installation
Since everything is running securely at the vendor’s location, companies will not need to rely on their IT departments to install an application. Not only that, but all users in the corporation will be able to have the same version of the software at the same time. You won’t need to roll it out over a period of many months.

Cost Savings
Customers pay for the software monthly in this model. This means that a company won’t need to come up with a large sum of money at one time when they want to update or add new technology and/or software for their employees. The monetary risk is much lower and companies will be more willing to take a risk when they aren’t seeing such a large sum of money leaving the company at one time.

Security
Data security can be safer when it is hosted. Frankly, it has to be secure or vendors will lose business. Security is a number one priority and data is backed up constantly. Again, with a busy IT department, it may be easy to overlook backing up or securing information.

Software as a Service is becoming a worldwide method employed by companies to service their technology needs. In a world where software is updated yearly, adding important and often business essential updates, it is no wonder companies are looking for ways to save money. Software as a Service has become a solution for companies to save money, have faster installation times, relieve an already busy IT department and ensure things are happening in a secure and timely manner. Is it for you? More and more companies will begin asking themselves that question as they look to the future of technology within their organizations.

Some popular applications like payroll, accounting, CRM and video conferencing are working successfully based on these services. The e-ticketing, travel portals and e-banking phenomena that have caught our imagination are all signs of a trend towards internet business leading to the growth of custom software development services. The rapid increase in the facilities provided to the customers through the use of internet has lead to a rapid increase in the development of these software applications equipped with web interactive features.

The trend these days shows that most of the growing IT companies prefer professional software services for their custom software application requirements to have the benefits of simplified customer acquisition as well as integration, simplified operations, improved security and centralized control along with increased customer satisfaction. The software application services provide secured environment both for delivery and hosting customers’ data utilizing protection measures like Security Assessment, Security Design, Security Hardening, and Security Testing and Tuning.

As a service it gives the client liberty to easily make the change from one solution provider to another. This is possible as there is no expenses or investments on the establishment of the IT infrastructure of servers, software or security systems. This liberty of the client to easily walk away from a provider, works as a driving force to introduce better features and ensure optimum performance.These software services can be outsourced to get better results and low cost of ownership with in the cost structure.

First and foremost, without offering your customers a secure means at which to buy the items that you have for sale, you will not garner that many customers in the first place. The fact of the matter is that one of the most prevalent concerns for shoppers on the World Wide Web is the security of their personal information. A website or an online store that sells a product or a service that is unable to guarantee the security of its shoppers, protecting them from hackers, is not going to survive very long in the demanding business world of today.

What would the world be like without this kind software? A world devoid of the essential ecommerce shopping cart software of today would be a horrid thing to imagine. Websites would have to accept mail-in checks, inventories would be long outdated and nearly impossible to manage, and payment processing would cost significantly more in administrative time. However, thankfully there are software applications that take care of all of this for the specific business owner. They even track sales, make projections and store information such as sales tax collected and others for easy tax filings come the end of the year. In reality, these applications are so advanced these days that most major credit card companies have actually utilized the same batch processing software for their own institutions for two reasons: To assure that their security is top notch, and to make certain that other institutions they are doing business with are on the same page.

How does ecommerce shopping cart software benefit your business? The right software will allow you to offer a higher level of security to your online customers while increasing the usability and modern day applications of such software for your internalized business affairs. With the right ecommerce platform, you can easily created reports, update your online inventories with the click of a button and not have to worry about hackers stealing your data. The best ecommerce shopping cart software is already approved and certified by the major credit card companies. It allows for one button batch processing directly to their servers so you get your monies in a timely and efficient, secure manner. Most modern day applications will easily integrate to most online databases, which allows you the total flexibility of control over your online store. And most are entirely customizable so you can offer your shoppers a seamless online shopping experience.

Is ecommerce shopping cart software that expensive? Most of the time you can find great deals on ecommerce shopping cart software from large companies that make such applications. Always take your time. Conduct your due diligence and look around. Check out the software company’s profile, their online rating, and how many vendors that they currently supply their ecommerce shopping cart software to. What is their success rate? Do they offer free updates after purchase? How secure is their software? Is it accepted by all major credit card carriers? Does it easily integrate into your existing website? How much programming is required? Do they provide twenty four hour technical support to their clients? Make sure you keep these things in mind and you will easily find the appropriate ecommerce shopping cart software for your online needs.

World’s strongest HID solution against software piracy, unlicensed use, video protection and web authentication is now available.

 July 10, 2008

UniKey Solutions  

SecuTech Solution Inc. offers several ready license protection solutions along with UniKey. UniKey takes the role of hardware ID and works as the container of digital credentials.

UniKey Software Protection System provides a completed set of tools and samples for software vendors to control their software’s distribution.

UniKey Web Authentication System gives a new option for cost-effective two factor authentication for Web sites.

With help of UniKey Video Protector, you can protect your video files with ease.

Software Protection

Protect Your Software and Grow Your Revenues with the new driverless technology software protection & licensing solution.

UniKey dongles fully integrated with your existing software product lifecycle to minimize disruptions to development and business processes. UniKey dongles feature new driverless technology that reduces the huge work of technical support team for software vendors.

With UniKey dongles, you can increase your profits by protecting against losses from software piracy and intellectual property theft and enable innovative business models to increase value and differentiate your products.

The UniKey Software Protection System offers numerous licensing options, such as expiration dates, user limit, demo, trial version, renting, leasing. With easy to use tools like API, enveloper, developers can easily make encryption which is difficult to be cracked.

Video Protection

Want to sell video data to your customers?

Want to protect them against illegal distribution?

Yes, UniKey Video Protector is then the right solution for you. Your video data such as real media (rm/rmvb), avi, swf and flv video files are protected with the state-of-the-art encryption technologies. Only the owner with the right license number can decrypt and consume the data.

As a video vendor, you need only a simple click to protect your video files, while the end-user must have a UniKey dongle that you issued to access your video files.

Additionally to the protection function with UniKey Video Protector, the solution offers you the Driverless technology, reduces the huge work of technical support team for video vendors.

Web Authentication

Nowadays, people are paying more attention to web security and hence authentication has become an increasing critical problem of Internet and Intranet environments.

UniKey web authentication serves more than one purpose. It can provide data security, identity theft protection and improved user experience. The strength of an organization’s web authentication method needs to match the value of the information and resources opened for access.

SecuTech delivers a variety of web authentication methods for varying security and user requirements.

About SecuTech Solution Inc.

SecuTech Solutions Inc. is a company specializing in software license management business systems focusing on the international market with their class leading UniKey product range. Having an extensive and in-depth range of experience within the Software Management Licensing market, SecuTech has drawn upon this experience to utilize today’s cutting-edge technologies to introduce a COMPLETE and affordable solution for today’s software vendor markets worldwide

SecuTech Solution Inc.

Sales@eSecuTech.com

www.eSecuTech.com

1.  Social security and Medicare taxes (rate and cutoff)

Employers must stop withholding social security tax after an employee reaches $106,800 in social security wages in 2009. The maximum social security withholding amount in 2008 was $102,000. This change will require employers to update their accounting or payroll software, either by downloading a new version from the software vendor or by updating the tax tables in their existing payroll system. There is no limit on the amount of wages subject to Medicare tax. Medicare taxes also apply to the wages of household workers an employer pays $1,700 or more in cash. Social security and Medicare taxes apply to election workers who are paid $1,500 or more. The change in the social security withholding cutoff mainly affects employers who have high income employees, making more than 106,800 dollars each year.

 2.  New employment tax adjustment and claim for refund process

The IRS is introducing two new forms for the 2009 tax year: Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, and Form 944-X, Adjusted Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund.

To correct employment tax errors discovered on or after January 1st 2009, employers should use the new corresponding “X” forms to correct employment tax errors as soon as they are discovered. For example, employers should use the new Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, to correct errors on a previously filed Form 941.

For overpayments: Employers can choose to make an adjustment or claim a refund on the corresponding “X” form.

For underpayments: Employers correcting an underpayment must use the corresponding “X” form. Amounts owed must be paid by the receipt of the return. Payments can be made using EFTPS, by sending a check, or by credit card.

3.  Credit card payments

Employers can pay the balance due on Form 943 (Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees) and Form 945 (Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax) by credit card. Employers can’t use a credit card to make federal tax deposits.

4.  Social Security Administration and magnetic media

Employers requesting verification of names and social security numbers between 51 and 250,000 employees can no longer use magnetic media to submit their requests to the Social Security Administration. Employers can upload a file through the Social Security Number Verification System (SSNVS). The Social Security will review usage of SSNVS to ensure that employers are using it for the proper purposes. It is not proper to use SSNVS for non-wage reporting purposes, such as identity, credit checks, mortgage applications, etc. The employer can verify up to 250,000 names/SSNs with a correctly formatted SSNVS file. Social Security will not be able to process a file that is not in the correct format. To create the file you will need one column that is at least 130 characters long. This column will hold all data for each record. To get specifications for the record layout, select “Submission File Format” from the SSNVS Handbook from the Social Security website.

5.  Paid preparers must sign Form 941 and Form 944

The paid preparer’s section is no longer optional and is included in Part 5 of Form 941(Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return) and Form 944 (Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return).

Employers using an up to date 2009 Payroll Software to do payroll and calculate withholding, shouldn’t have a problem dealing with any of these changes for tax year 2009.