The principles of good security remain the same for both ends of the scale - you can only identify security threats if you know what business-as-usual, regular running looks like.Establishing this baseline understanding will take time - 8 to 24 weeks in fact, because you are going to need a ... Read more (1054 words)

Harden Server Configuration to remove Vulnerabilities "PCI DSS Version 2.0 Requirement 2: Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters" From the moment a server is powered up it becomes vulnerable to attack. Assuming that leaving your key application servers turned off is not an option ... Read more (881 words)

The PCI DSS Requirement 10 calls for a full audit trail of all activity for all devices and users, specifically requiring all event and audit logs to be gathered centrally and securely backed up.The thinking here is twofold. Firstly, as a pro-active security measure, the PCI requirement that all logs ... Read more (1267 words)

I like numbers (it must be my engineering background). They can tell stories, if you know where to look.So I was interested by some numbers recently produced by (or about) the world's largest diamond mining companies.In the diamond mining jungle there are two alpha-male gorillas: one name we all know ... Read more (430 words)

Directory submissions By submitting your website to online directory categories which are relevant to your business, you can increase your search engine position for your chosen keywordThere are a couple of provisos. Firstly, the title that you submit to the directory should be one of the keywords you are trying ... Read more (761 words)

In what we believe are priority order, the most important parts of the web page must be taken into account when producing a website design. They are as follows. The title tag.The title tag is the text that you see in the top left hand side of your browser, normally ... Read more (565 words)

What is it, and why is it important?The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard was designed as a comprehensive list of best practice measures and processes for handling, processing, storing and transmitting payment card data. The PCI DSS was formulated by the payment card companies such as Visa and MasterCard ... Read more (907 words)

Enough was enough and this time I decided to turn to a more regimental approach to stop smoking.The TV adverts had caught my eye. NHS quit smoking packs were available free via calling a phone number of entering a form online. I filled out the form and within a week ... Read more (519 words)

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS, is still confusing for card payment merchants in 2010.A recent survey of PCI DSS knowledge and understanding revealed the following facts* 35% of retail/hospitality/entertainment organisations surveyed still do not understand compliance requirements* Whilst there is a strong understanding within Tier ... Read more (630 words)

The Health Information Technology for Economic & Clinical Health (HITECH) act really does 'up the ante' for HIPAA enforcement.In theory Health organizations have had to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) since its introduction in 1996. Originally HIPAA was introduced by congress to protect the health ... Read more (1066 words)