Forecast 2008: Cybercrime increasing

Cybercriminals have been increasingly successful at stealing data, and experts predict their attempts will increase in 2008.Cyber thieves have hit the Veterans Affairs Department, the Transportation Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and several other agencies in the past two years. The Congressional High Tech Caucus is examining the issue, which means funding to protect data is likely to remain strong.Some agencies are turning to information security management tools to address external and internal threats. For example, enetForensics Inc. introduced a security compliance management suite, nFX One. In addition to monitoring threats, the tool fixes security holes and helps with compliance reporting.Some agencies are also looking to replace low-tech data security solutions ? such as physically removing hard drives or destroying sensitive systems ? with more modern approaches.LNXI, a provider of Linux-based high-performance computing solutions, has a diskless, clustered system for projects in which data destruction is essential. The system offers users a way to pool computing power for secure projects without having to destroy entire systems to ensure that all related data has been eliminated. To repurpose a system after completing a secure project, an organization must prove that data has been completely destroyed or the entire system must be destroyed. The LS-1 SE solves this problem by physically separating computing nodes from system storage.To prevent users from losing laptop computers and handheld devices, some organizations are moving to thin clients ? devices that have no onboard memory to store data. Servers store the information and do the computing, and the user has only a monitor and input devices.Sprint and Alcatel-Lucent have launched SprintSecure Laptop Guardian, a security system that includes remote monitoring and the ability to locate or lock a lost or stolen laptop PC.