Under lock and key: proactive security tools seize cyber crime.

• Author: Stewart, Heather
• Position: Techknowledge

Staying ahead of Internet threats from viruses to hacker attacks, while guarding against internal threats such as recreational Internet use and fraud, are some among IT's biggest challenges.

Some Utah companies offer tools that can protect against Internet security risks and monitor the entire network for policy violations and other red flags.

Many businesses rely on a firewall and anti-virus software to protect their networks. But that often isn't enough anymore, says Joe Lowry of Sandy-based Cymphonix.

"The ability to harm a machine--either by stealing information, taking over a processor or memory resources, or taking over a good name in order to spam--can take so many different formats that most people aren't aware of how they can be attacked," he says. "Most people continue to walk through the minefield blissfully unaware of how many mines are in the ground."

Cymphonix's solution, the Cymphonix Network Composer, sits right at the gateway from the server to the Internet. It enables IT staff to look across all ports and protocols in order to accurately identify Internet content, who requested it and how they did it. And all of that information is clearly categorized and reported.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"So much data can be collected that it's overwhelming," says Lowry. "We present it in a format that makes it very easy for someone to see what's taking place."

The Cymphonix solution also gives businesses flexibility in regulating Internet traffic. For example, some sites can be blocked entirely. Others can be allowed--but only after critical business functions are given priority access to the limited bandwidth.

"We allow for the shaping and prioritization of allowed applications, Websites, services, users and groups," says Lowry.

Internal Websites, customer care sites, online banking, and payroll and vendor Websites will typically get top priority. "Even though those appear to most network infrastructures as just another Website, they're not," says Lowry. "They can't be subjected to the same rules as the employee who is sitting at a computer on his lunch break watching a motorcycle scare a horse."

Companies have long utilized "allow or deny" solutions to block certain Internet content, like peer-to-peer media download sites or social networking sites. But Lowry says too many employees know how to get around those blocks.

Members of Gen-Y, who are just entering the workforce, are often adept at bypassing usage policy mechanisms. "They have...