BT to protect businesses against Botnet threats
1 min read
BT says it is enhancing its Event Monitoring and Correlation service to defend business networks against the growing threat of malicious botnet attacks.
Jeff Schmidt, vice president and general manager of BT Americas’ Managed Security Solutions Group, says the company is using new proprietary detection tools to identify clients’ hosts that have fallen under botnet control. It will then assist with quarantine and remediation to restore integrity.
He makes the point that botnets are a significant security risk to businesses because they are primarily used to execute criminal activity. Companies are not only at risk from compromised corporate and individual user information, but could also be liable for criminal activity resulting from infected networks.
What’s more, even firms taking responsible precautions and exercising best practices can still be compromised by bots – and be unaware they have been infected.
Also, since most bots communicate only infrequently with their command and control hosts, the chances of detecting infected machines prior to a critical event – without significant technology and infrastructure investment – are slim, he says.
However, since bots do communicate and that generates firewall traffic, BT’s Managed Security Solutions Group has created the ability to detect bots by monitoring and analyzing firewall traffic.
“Our botnet detection tools provide customers with a significant layer of additional protection that wasn’t previously available,” says Schmidt.
“Industry projections show that on a typical business day, there are upwards of seven million separate bot attacks. It’s essential that companies ensure they have maximum and continuous early-warning security measures in place to protect the integrity of their assets and mitigate risks.”
