Credit crunch storm looms for IT security

Experts are forecasting stormy times ahead for corporate IT security as companies are hit by a triple whammy of increased regulation, slashed budgets and emerging technologies.

Industry is facing the looming threat of new data auditing rules in the wake of the credit crunch, combined with the security headache of the introduction of cost cutting technologies, warned Tim Mather, RSA Conference chief security strategist.

His concerns that IT security staff could be overwhelmed were echoed by Microsoft's chief security advisor Ed Gibson who warned that information security "could suffer if people take their eye off the ball".

Security from A to Z

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A is for Antivirus
B is for Botnets
C is for CMA
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I is for IM
J is for Jaschan (Sven)
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U is for USB sticks/devices
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W is for Wi-fi
X is for OS X
Y is for You
Z is for Zero-day

Speaking at the RSA Conference 2008 in London, Mather said: "We may very well see more legislation and it may very well be the wrong legislation.

"You could find us trying to do the same amount with less money and people and potentially with more legislation."

He said that this pressure would be exacerbated by security challenges posed by technologies such as VoIP and virtualisation - such as how to follow a data trail in a virtual environment.

"You see more people cutting costs and deploying these technologies and it becomes a potential risk," he claimed.

Mather said it could get to the point where compromises are made on information security, claiming: "It could be a question of whose data are you going to take the risk with?"