Focus on security not image advise security anaylsts
By Chris Taylor
23/08/2011
Web developers spend too much time making web pages look attractive, risking their security in the process.
This was the damning evaluation made by IT analysts Ovum, whose latest report investigated cyber attacks on big businesses.
It cites a "lack of focus" as reasons for companies like Sony, security firm RCA and other financial institutions being hacked over the last year. Report author, Andy Kellett, told Computing.co.uk that security just doesn't seem like a priority for most enterprises.
"In the past developers have put too much emphasis on web cosmetics, the look and feel, the speed, and the ease of access. Not enough importance has been placed on the requirement to write secure code and deliver a hardened infrastructure," he explained.
Kellett went on to say over the last three years, 70 per cent of the web's top 100 sites have inadvertently either "hosted malicious content, or have contained redirect facilities to illegitimate web sites," as a result of hacking.
The report recommends real-time managed services software as a means of monitoring website activity. However, as the web becomes increasingly interactive, this task will become ever more difficult.
"The use of Web 2.0 services, the requirement for social media access in a business and personal context, and the introduction of an increasing number of new mobile devices mean that the real-time elements of web protection have to deal with the combined requirements of corporate and social use," Kellet concluded, according to Fudzilla.com.
