Client security: solving the problems of client management

The typical enterprise is under constant attack. Most employees will be blissfully unaware, but many IT and security department professionals working for companies in today's internet-connected world are almost certainly treading water in the floods of alerts generated by security systems responding to worms, viruses, malicious emails and hackers.

This is challenging enough, but external security threats from malware and hackers are not the only worry. A significant extra headache comes from the management of a multitude of client technologies - including client-based end-point security systems - across dozens, hundreds or even thousands of PCs in an enterprise infrastructure.

Recent research from Vanson Bourne found that nearly one third of IT security professionals cannot deal with the amount of data generated by firewall, antivirus and intrusion detection systems, with 45 per cent of European IT managers estimated to receive more than 4,000 security alerts per second.

Moreover, that process of keeping clients secure continues to grow more difficult as the threats become more sophisticated and harder to detect.

Early reports of malware distribution in April show that viruses are swiftly declining as the main threat, in comparison with other malicious software. Separate research from Fortinet and Sophos shows that the top viruses were mainly old timers, and that Trojans and spyware are coming to the fore in their place.

Networks are also becoming more widespread, with clients moving beyond the protection of the network firewall.

To keep pace with the growing number of threats knocking on company doors, security products deployed across the enterprise typically require frequent upgrades as new threats and vulnerabilities are detected. But again, the time and cost associated with managing these updates is overwhelming IT departments.

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