Opinion: Can you spot a fake?

'It seems that it's harder and harder to tell the difference between reputable Web sites/emails, and those that are faked or infected with malware.

Yet identifying and protecting from these growing threats is exactly what customers look to you, the Channel, for advice on. So what can you tell them?
 
By recognising security as a business enabler rather than a blocking tool, the picture changes.

In times of difficulty, your customers need to use business tools such as Web and Email more and more.

It's an economical way for them to reach their customers and we can enable them to do this faster and safer.
 
First of all, it would be prudent to be armed with the facts. According to research*:

Malicious Web sites have increased year on year by 46 percent (January 2008 to January 2009).

70 percent of the top 100 most popular Web sites <http://www.alexa.com/>  either host malicious content or contain a masked redirect to malicious sites.

75 percent of Websites classified as malicious are actually sites with "good" reputations that are compromised by attackers.

87.2 percent of all email is spam and 83.5 percent of that spam has an embedded URL.
 
The reason why it's difficult to tell the difference between reputable Web sites and those infected with malware is because they are often one and the same thing.

This month we've seen malicious code hiding behind embassies, Facebook suffered from a privacy flaw and phishing attack, and Waledac introduced a new spy themed campaign which was not picked up by many of the major antivirus vendors.

If you look at the typical Mashup site, illustrated here as a 'before' and 'after', you can see how easily malware can be concealed.
 
The opportunity to the Channel: to position themselves as experts.

For security resellers, the economic crisis hasn't hit as hard as in some other areas.

The need for security is as great, if not greater than ever before, and as a whole has held up well. However, we cannot sit on our laurels and wait for the money to roll in.
 
We should use any opportunity we can to educate the customer so they can make an informed decision.

At a recent series of end user roadshows, I was surprised by the number of people I spoke to who did not realise what Web 2.0 sites actually were, or that the top 100 most popular sites hide the majority of malware.

These are people responsible for maintaining and ensuring IT security.  

If this is the case then how can their employees be expected to recognise where hidden dangers lie? There is a clear opportunity for partners to play an educational role here.
 
Behavioural solutions can obviously only go so far.

A solution that automatically analyses and secures Web traffic in real-time, enabling safe use of the latest Web 2.0 sites and tools is clearly essential in today's sophisticated threat landscape.

Legacy solutions fall short, but new powerful security products are widely available which analyse Web traffic in real-time, instantly categorise new sites and dynamic content, proactively discover security risks, and block dangerous malware.
 
Help your customer understand where threats abound and the importance of an integrated solution which encompasses Data, Web and Email security.

By offering awareness, consulting, and the potential to drive down costs with managed services or hosted solutions, the Channel can provide real value during these recessionary times.
 
Customers are looking for the means to keep their businesses competitive and ways to embrace the Internet safely. They are also looking for someone to step in and take the guess work out of spotting a fake. Let that person be you.

*Source: Websense Security Labs bi-annual research report: Websense Security Labs, State of Internet Security, Q3-Q4 2008 <http://www.websense.com/site/Docs/whitepapers/en/WSL_ReportQ3Q4FNL.PDF?CMP=NR012109A>  and 'In the mail <http://securitylabs.websense.com/content/Assets/Images/InTheMailApr09.pdf> ' April 2009.