James Turner

Data leakage prevention (DLP) it is an information management tool, not a threat mitigation tool like anti-virus or intrusion prevention. The DLP market is still very immature, and the products are not integrated with other related technologies, such as: enterprise content management (ECM), enterprise rights management (ERM), and identity management systems. When the vendors who specialise in...

Rather than resist selective sourcing, IT organisations should accept that many IT tasks are either highly repetitive or commoditised; and are not unique to your organisation. These tasks do not need to be done in-house and by IT professionals whose value is high because they know how to deliver quality while respecting organisational idiosyncrasies. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) could be an...

Privacy is now a public issue. Consequently, many of the recommendations for the Australian Privacy Act will likely be accepted because they reflect good practice, and are in harmony with international data privacy trends. However, these amendments to the Privacy Act will introduce added complexity and expense to the management of personal data. The danger right now is that organisations...

The combination of new requirements for quality control in software development and the looming skills crisis in Asia will drive multiple initiatives in the software industry. These initiatives include: vendor consolidation (particularly in platforms); a fundamental shift in the role of internal IT organisations; and an explosion of innovative and pragmatic mini-applications that are...

The securing of online banking through one time passwords delivered via SMS: provides two factors of authentication, is cheaper to deploy than tokens, increases the customers’ sense of security, and introduces online banking customers to the idea of secure banking on their mobile phones. However, introducing a widely adopted, variable-cost, service like one time password via SMS is not sustainable because it is inevitable that the cost of the SMS service will exceed the cost of online fraud, which is already at very low levels. Until mobile banking and EMV smartcards become more commonplace, banks should choose the better strategy of using SMS authentication, as it supports the product roadmap for online and mobile banking.

Easy venture capital money and a highly fragmented market are driving consolidation in the Managed Service Provider (MSP) industry. Whether your MSP is the target or the buyer, the M&A activity will be accompanied by organisational changes and strong pressure from the VCs to maximise returns. In the low margin MSP industry, this could have implications on the MSPs’ willingness to retain...

Microsoft’s new BitLocker feature, available in select versions of Vista, offers easy access to ‘whole disk’ encryption, which benefits several areas including; identity management, data security, and asset management. While BitLocker is a workable and well-integrated security feature, it is not a complete solution to data protection requirements. Whole disk encryption products have...

Dedicated IT security people are too expensive for SMB organisations. The market trend is towards outsourcing security tasks, and the SMB market must embrace this. Large organisations (500+ people) should make internal security people the managers of internal security programs, and managers of the relationship with managed security service providers (MSSPs) and outsourcers. Security is...