Team 1 Sec4.4

Lowest Cost Provider of Defenses

--Hema 13:13, 22 October 2005 (PDT)

Home:

There are several free options for protecting home computers: ZoneAlarm firewall, Ad Blocker(WebWasher Classic), Anti-Sypware (Spybot, Ad-aware), anti-virus (AVG Antivirus), E-mail Encryption (Pretty Good Privacy). Norton Security Suites is a good paid option.

Free Computer Security Check: Many computer security vendors offer free computer security checks for your computer to check for known viruses, spyware, and discover if your computer is vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Corporate:

Prices vary widely depending on the size and needs of businesses. The free app Spybot Search and Destroy is an excellent way to keep your desktops free of spyware. Good antivirus apps (Norton, McAfee, e-trust) run about $40 per head, while Internet security suites cost about $70 per copy. Utility software[Norton GoBack 3.0] runs the gamut, but prices tend to hover in the $50 to $100 range per license.

Most antivirus apps now require annual subscription fees for updated antivirus signature files to block the newest threats. Suites such as Norton Internet Security also require annual subscriptions that include software updates. Subscriptions run from $20 to $40 per year. Live technical-support fees for security software can also be very expensive. Symantec, McAfee, and ZoneAlarm each charge $2.95 a minute.

Santtu 23:27, 21 October 2005 (PDT)

Financial

Financial systems are by their very nature vast and widely connected. Such an environment contains many points of vulnerability and thus it is impossible, or very near impossible, to determine a single lowest cost provider for upgraded defenses for the system. The lowest cost would be provided by all parties working together to provide the necessary multiple layers of protection. Each provider can address their areas of the system in the most efficient manner.

The difficulty of using a single provider of upgraded defenses is that in a large system a single component can not guarantee full protection for the entire system. Although all communications can be strongly encrypted, it does not provide any protection from an attacker attacking a router to which the computers are connected -- such an attck could at minimum result in denial of service at critical time periods thus exposing the financial institution to liability.