Recommended: Click here to improve PC speed »
According to MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), Islamic websites haveincreased their focus on IT security related issues and one of the latest spates isthe Technical Mujihad, an online magazine published by al-Fajr Information Center.The 64-page edition magazine was electronically distributed to password-protectedJihadist forums (according to SiteInstitute.org) on the 28th November and computerand contained Internet security related articles. SiteInstiture.org reports sucharticles as  The Technique of Concealing Files from View and  How to Protect YourFiles, Even if Your Device was Penetrated, were written for the intermediate toadvanced user, and describe a variety of methods and software that provide security: the editorial emphasizes the great purpose of jihad in the information sector.Â
The situational awareness alert was issued by US-CERT, part of the Department ofHomeland Security (DHS), on Thursday 30th December, stating that financialinstitutions could be targeted in denial-of-service and database attacks as soon asFriday. Online trading and banking websites are urged to take the necessaryprecautions against the infiltration and destruction of their website.
Assessing the security of a websiteAccording to the Privacy Clearing House over 97 million personal records were stolenthrough hack and related attacks over an 18 month period spanning February 2005through late November 2006. Although terrorist attacks go beyond the profitintentions of hackers, organizations are now at great risk.
If the servers and/or web applications are compromised, any militant group couldgain complete access to backend data. Web applications are designed to allow website visitors to retrieve and submitdynamic content (with varying levels of personal and sensitive data) through any webbrowser. Therefore web applications require direct and open access to backenddatabases to function properly. Hackers may easily gain access to sensitive datathrough several types of vulnerabilities including SQL Injection and cross-sitescripting. It is fundamental for any institution with an online presence toregularly audit the security of its web assets, answering fundamental questions - Which elements of our network infrastructure we thought are secure, are open tohack attacks? and  What code can be thrown at web applications to cause them tomisbehave?Â
Acunetix provides on-demand site audit to help companies determine the security oftheir websitesAcunetix SiteAudit is a new on-demand web security audit service that provides animmediate and comprehensive security audit of all off-the-shelf and bespoke webapplications at an introductory price of only $395. In addition to performing athorough web application scan, Acunetix is also offering a complimentary audit of acompany's web and database servers to ensure that web security is completely up toscratch.
Acunetix SiteAudit:
* Provides an immediate and comprehensive website security audit* Ensures website is secure against web attacks* Checks for SQL injection, Cross site scripting and other vulnerabilities* Audits shopping carts, forms, and dynamic content* Scans entire website and web applications including Javascript / AJAX applicationsfor security vulnerabilities.
About Acunetix
Acunetix was founded to combat the alarming rise in web attacks. Its flagshipproduct, Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner, is the result of several years ofdevelopment by a team of highly experienced security developers. Acunetix is aprivately held company with headquarters based in Europe (Malta), a US office inSeattle, Washington and an office in London, UK. For more information aboutAcunetix, visit: http://www.acunetix.com; http://www.acunetix.de.
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
