Toronto, October 24, 2007 /PR/ The success of online commerce has ignited a rush tothe Web as companies of all sizes seek to automate their processes, stay connected,cut costs and drive incremental revenue. This rush, which began in earnest at theturn of the century continues today and has attracted a proportional amount ofcybercrime. A Canadian security expert offers recommendations to protect bothbusinesses and individuals.
Claudiu Popa, president of a Toronto-based security consultancy, sees an alarmingtrend towards more intelligent attacks that target not only consumers throughphishing emails and virus infections but also the businesses that invest in thelatest web functionality.
A professional security auditor, Mr. Popa sees a wide variety of vulnerabilitiesthat threaten to impact the busy holiday season this year: This year is unlikeprevious years in that the focus of organized cybercriminals will be to go big andto do this, they will leverage the more advanced hacking techniques that have beenemerging over the past little while. Businesses that rely on Web applications thathave not been professionally tested for security and privacy should brace themselvesfor the impact of privacy breaches, data theft, server and online applicationhijackings. said Popa. Most companies fail to catch security breaches, giving thema false sense of security. It is critical to understand that these entirelypreventable failures endanger the privacy of customers and compromise the veryexistence of businesses. .
After a record-breaking 2006 exceeding 100 billion in online sales and over 3billion in cyberfraud, this year promises to be bigger on both counts. Bestpractices and proven security standards need to be adopted ahead of the busy holidayseason and rigorously followed by all organizations. These include securityawareness education for all employees and management, professional securityassessments for networks and online applications as well as rigorous, on-goingmonitoring to prevent privacy or security incidents.
Almost of all web merchants and Internet companies spent less than 1% of theirrevenues to combat cybercrime and online fraud. I don t believe that this is goingto be acceptable this year as companies will feel the sting of financial losses,banks will do what they need to protect themselves and consumers will not takeprivacy breaches lightly. Online companies need to be much more accountable fortheir security lapses and that takes commitment. The good news is they can leave therest to us.
For individuals and companies seeking to report cybercrime, Informatica freelyprovides a comprehensive list of links at www.SecuriyandPrivacy.ca. The company alsooffers the acclaimed Verify security assessments, employee security awarenesscertification and a complete series of consulting solutions.
About Informatica
Toronto-based Informatica Corporation is a renowned Canadian information riskmanagement organization. Over the past 18 years, Informatica has providedconsulting, analysis, implementation and training solutions to SME and enterpriseclients in diverse sectors and world regions. Informatica clients include financialorganizations, government, non-profit organizations, services, manufacturing andhealth organizations. Informatica is the only organization that offers FlexSecureVerify web site and application security assessments, standards-based audits andWorkLife Security and Privacy Awareness Certification in addition to publishedresearch, emerging threat analysis, corporate risk strategy, security projectmanagement and customized corporate training
For media enquiries and security solutions contact:
Claudiu Popa, CISSP, PMP, CISAPresident & CSO, Informatica Corporation416-431-9012 Info@InformaticaSecurity.com
CO: Informatica Corporation Information Security/Risk ManagementST: OntarioIN: HTS SU:

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