January 2012

B-Sides A Go During RSA

For those people that heard the recent rumors about the demise of Security B-Sides, it is being reported that the event will go on during the RSA Conference 2012 after all.

This year, RSA Conference organizers denied sponsors of their show the chance to sponsor another event within close proximity to Moscone Center.  With plummeting sponsor dollars B-Sides was likely to close the doors on this year’s event. But because of a generous sponsor the show will go on.

Read more of Steve Ragan’s coverage below:

http://www.thetechherald.com/articles/RSA-Conference-denies-bullying-B-Sides-San-Francisco/16142/

Posted by Bill Keeler on January 31, 2012 at 12:54 PM
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"HIMSS - IT Security Companies Ask: What's in it for us?"

Schwartz MSL’s IT Security clients often ask if attending HIMSS is worth their time and investment. Though many of these technology vendors often have customers in the healthcare vertical, they aren’t delivering pure-play HCIT products like EMRs, clinical decision support tools or healthcare billing platforms. Although HIMSS is the largest and most well-attended show dedicated to HCIT, the answer for IT Security companies and general tech companies, for that matter, isn’t so clear cut.

When discussing with clients the decision to attend or plan a larger presence through exhibiting or sponsorship at HIMSS, we pose the following questions:

What do you want to get out of the conference? In the past, even some of the largest HCIT vendors have commented that lead generation at previous HIMSS events has been moderate. Though the event attracts technology buying decision makers, the show is ‘noisy’ with hundreds of companies competing for booth traffic and general awareness. Typically, attendees are looking for specific HCIT solutions and may not yet be thinking about technology investments they should make to support a HCIT deployment. Where HIMSS may not always deliver in leads, it does provide a fertile environment for vendor networking. Dozens of companies announce partnerships and plant seeds for many more. A trip to Vegas may be a cost-effective way for your company to get some face time with bigger HCIT players.

One constant at HIMSS is the strong media presence. For companies that are new to the healthcare industry, there is a good opportunity to schedule introductory briefings with editors and analysts to educate them on how your technology fits into the HCIT landscape. As with any media outreach, they will be most interested in news, learning about your company’s overarching strategy and roadmap, and hearing about your customers.

How advanced is your healthcare messaging? The healthcare industry is experiencing dramatic changes in terms of payment and care delivery models. HCIT will play a big role in supporting new models, such as pay-for-performance and ACOs. The industry recognizes a huge potential for support technology – particularly storage and security components that will be critical as more healthcare organizations digitize their records while working to comply with regulations, and IT consulting and integration to optimize IT investments and manage complex IT networks. Technology companies that want to succeed in the healthcare vertical must clearly articulate and illustrate their value proposition for their product and services within the healthcare market and be prepared to relay those messages to many audiences at the show, namely vendors, analysts, media and attendees. Schwartz MSL leverages our healthcare experience to help clients craft healthcare-specific messaging.

Can you tell a customer story? One of the best ways to advance your healthcare-specific messaging is to use a healthcare customer. Inviting a customer to join you at HIMSS – whether at a booth or on the show floor – is a great draw for media. Reporters and editors want to hear firsthand how your customers use your technology to meet their needs.

Here is a strategy that worked well for Schwartz MSL client Circadence, a company that provides WAN and network optimization solutions, at HIMSS 2011. Although they didn’t have a customer on hand, Circadence executives met with key reporters, including Jim Knaub at Radiology Today, and shared the experience of their customer Imaging Associates of North Mississippi Magnolia (IANMM), which uses Circadence MVO to ensure rapid, reliable and secure delivery of large image transfers. The executives recounted the customer’s process from evaluation through implementation while communicating clear, quantitative ROI. The result: a follow-up conversation between the customer and editor after the show, translating to a cover story. To view that story, visit Radiology Today. Since the story ran, Circadence has expanded its presence in healthcare, providing WAN and network optimization for images, electronic health records and now the ability to access critical healthcare information on any mobile device.

After reviewing these questions, consider dipping your toe in the HIMSS pool by sending a few executives as attendees. Investing in attendee passes is much less expensive than sponsoring a booth, plus it gives executives the time to walk the show floor and network with other vendors, potential partners and the media. Register before January 23 for the standard rate.

Schwartz MSL has had a long-standing presence at HIMSS and will have HCIT practice group members at the 2012 show. We’re less than eight weeks away, but there’s still time to plan and make a significant impact.  For further advice or information on how Schwartz MSL can partner with you, please contact Bill Keeler in our Boston Office at 781-684-0770, or send an email to bkeeler@schwartzmsl.com.

Posted by Bill Keeler on January 11, 2012 at 9:15 AM
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Time to Protect Your Web Applications

The last in our series of 2012 prediction posts is from Edward Roberts, director of marketing at Mykonos.

Edward Roberts, director of marketing at Mykonos

Mykonos Software CEO, David Koretz, stated that 2011 was the year “when sophisticated Web application attacks came of age.” But have companies started to grow up? Sony was the victim of multiple web attacks and lost over 100 Million records, closed down PlayStation network for 23 days at a cost of $171M, and will deal with many class action lawsuits for years to come. Now if a large technology corporation like Sony suffered this web attack rite of passage, surely every other company must be equally as concerned to avoid being the next victim?
 
It’s seems not. While most hackers acknowledge that web applications are easy to attack, and data can be stolen in a matter of minutes from a vulnerable site, the majority of companies have ‘nothing’ protecting their web applications. Let me repeat, ‘nothing.’ Many are even under the misguided impression that their network firewall or IPS is protecting their web apps.
 
And to exacerbate the problem, the minority of companies’ that deploy some form of security at the web layer do so only out of deference to compliance requirements and leave them as passive monitoring devices, rather than active preventative security solutions.
 
Today, the Web layer is largely undefended and as companies rush to build more web applications and move customer processes on-line, there will be continued growth in the millions of Web sites collecting and sharing data. With this comes increasing exposure to hackers who are probing the web every day looking for the next vulnerable company.
 
So the prediction for 2012 is simple, companies will look to protect their websites and deploy Web Intrusion Prevention Systems.

If they don’t, ask Sony what coming of age feels like.

Posted by Bill Keeler on January 5, 2012 at 8:56 AM
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Why Cloud Computing Security Will Affect You In 2012

Happy New Year and welcome back to Tangled Web! Our first post of 2012 comes to you from Bit9’s Director of Security Research, Dan Brown.
 

Bit9’s Director of Security Research, Dan Brown

It’s that time of year again: time for technology prediction blogs.

The common perception among those only vaguely familiar with cloud computing is that it’s a fringe technology – affecting only technologists and large corporations.  The truth is that cloud computing is invading virtually everyone’s life whether they know it or not.

Do you own an iPhone or Android device?  How about a Kindle or Nook?  Soon even our cars will not be immune from the cloud invasion.

Don’t misunderstand me.  There are lots of benefits to cloud computing.  Siri’s magic is enabled by the cloud – your handheld device doesn’t have the compute power to do all that niftiness, and so all that speech recognition wizardry has to be offloaded to the almighty server across the Net.  But what happens so often, is that this niftiness overtakes our better security judgment.  Sometimes we need to step back and take stock of it.

The “cloud” is not an enigma to malicious attackers.  Increasingly that façade is being broken down to its component servers.  If you think corporate environments are rich targets, imagine all of the mobile apps and outsourced IT that are being hosted out there.

This post’s prediction dovetails with another recent prediction of mine.  There I spoke about data being stolen from corporate environments by using data mules to walk it out the door – bypassing corporate security measures.  But much of the same data might also be stolen these days by compromising the cloud.  In the coming year we will see a significant increase in attacks on the cloud that will parallel the increasing use of the cloud in our daily lives.  Security rule #1:  if it’s an attractive target, it will be targeted.

Posted by Bill Keeler on January 4, 2012 at 9:46 AM
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