High-speed Internet access has become ubiquitous across small and large enterprises worldwide. Businesses acknowledge that Internet applications such as email, Web browsing, and instant messaging are essential ways to communicate with customers, suppliers, and partners. But with the opportunities that these applications provide come many risks and threats that an organization needs to address. This book explores these risks and discusses ways in which they can be reduced or eliminated by limiting inappropriate use, eliminating spam, protecting corporate information assets, and ensuring that the Internet is secure and available for authorized business purposes.
High-speed Internet access has become ubiquitous across small and large enterprises worldwide. Content, information and knowledge are the core of the IT business and the reason for existence. From financial institutions researching market trends to medical researchers worldwide collaborating efforts the Internet has been the largest single boon to communication since the Gutenburg press. Businesses acknowledge that Internet applications such as email, Web browsing, and instant messaging are an essential medium to communicate with customers, suppliers and partners. However, any technology brings with it risks and persons who misuse the technology to their own ends. Viruses abound, posing a threat to data integrity and system stability. "Black hats," or malicious hackers, take on as a hobby or vocation the destruction of security for a variety of ends and motivations. Viruses and spam are easily the two largest problems an administrator faces today and as each becomes more sophisticated the lines between them blur. This book explores these risks and discusses ways in which they can be reduced or eliminated by limiting inappropriate use, eliminating spam, protecting corporate information assets, and ensuring that this vital resource is secure and available for authorized business purposes.