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Market Roundup ABBYY Launches Document Structure-Aware OCR Blue Coat Appliance Beefs Up Anti-Phishing Technology |
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ABBYY Launches Document Structure-Aware
ABBYY, a document recognition, data capture, and linguistic
technology vendor, has announced ABBYY FineReader version 9.0, the first
With this latest release of FineReader, we see this
While a copy of FineReader alone will not solve the totality
of the paper and electronic integration challenges many organizations face, its
latest capability should prove interesting to ABBYY’s many partners and OEM
licensees. It is from these industry partners that we would expect to see
enhanced offerings, perhaps even ones that would be applicable to the SMB
market segment, that would focus on automated translation of commonly received
business documents into databases and help SMBs streamline their paper handling
as part of their larger information management processes. The ecosystem of
potential
Blue Coat Appliance Beefs Up Anti-Phishing Technology
Blue Coat Systems, Inc. has announced that its Blue Coat
WebFilter for Blue Coat ProxySG appliances now features Real-Time Anti-Phishing
protection. This capability can block access to phishing Web sites or warn
users that they are attempting to open a phishing Web page that could expose
them to potential fraud or theft. Rather than depending solely on a database, the
Blue Coat Real-Time Anti-Phishing protection technology assesses a Website on
the fly and examines it based on proprietary algorithms. This process can also
be performed on sites using
Blue Coat Real-Time Anti-Phishing protection technology is the latest addition to the Dynamic Real-Time Rating service of the Blue Coat WebFilter product. URLs for brand new or previously undiscovered Websites can be assessed in real time and categorized as pornography, gambling, spyware sources, or some other possibly dangerous or inappropriate code. In addition, Blue Coat ProxySG appliances can automatically check for credential discrepancies of secure Web sites that could indicate a rogue site. Blue Coat WebFilter runs on Blue Coat ProxySG appliances. While WebFilter utilizes an on-proxy database of over 15 million Website ratings representing billions of Web pages of real Internet usage, the product also uses DRTR to access and categorize new or previously undiscovered Web sites.
Today’s attacks are overwhelmingly money-motivated and their actions are based on a business model wherein cyber crooks need only a small number of hits to the counterfeit sites. Each hit can provide personally identifiable information that can either be monetized by selling to others or can be used by the original perpetrators for identity fraud or other criminal purposes. The sophistication of the counterfeit sites to which victims are directed is growing daily and it is extremely difficult for individuals to quickly determine whether a site is real or not. We believe that static, reactive database-architected products are not up to the task. We also believe that the cyber crooks will vary their “MO” to adapt to defenses as they are implemented; consequently centralized management is another necessary prerequisite to success and Blue Coat’s approach is in line with our assessment.
The appliance form factor has long been favored by software administrators and IT Managers as the most efficient means of implementing functionality across a number of locations. Appliances do not require local maintenance or support and are managed centrally, and are consequently a natural form factor for dealing with a dynamic and evolving threat such as phishing. Phishing sites are generally short-lived, and with hundreds of new ones appearing each day, simply evaluating a requested page against a database is generally ineffective, and the Blue Coat approach is one to consider. History has shown that the attackers adapt quickly to new defensive technology. We will continue to assess the effectiveness of this architecture, but caution end-user organizations that the weak link will continue to be the untrained, uncaring, and unaware individual who falls prey to even the most primitive of schemes, and if you’re looking to make some money in guaranteed Nigerian oil dealings, let us know.
Fujitsu Siemens Introduces New FibreCAT Storage for SMBs
Fujitsu Siemens Computers has announced two new models in its FibreCAT family, the new FibreCAT SX88 disk storage device and the FibreCAT TX08 based upon automatic LTO tape storage. The FibreCAT SX88 is up to 50% faster than the previous FibreCAT SX80 models due to optimized RAID controllers and support for 4GBps fibre-channel connections throughout the system. All key components such as RAID controllers, fans, power supply, and hard disks are hot-swappable redundant. Customers can choose SATA-II or SAS disks or a combination of the two in a single enclosure with scalability up to 42TB. The solution targets applications such as databases, backup-to-disk, streaming media, email, Web services, and archiving, among others. As with other FibreCAT SX models, the SX88 features FibreCap technology, which protects the contents of the RAID controller cache from data loss in the event of a power failure. FibreCache also helps ensure that the cache contents of the RAID controllers always remain in sync via a quick direct connection and that controller performance is exploited efficiently. The new FibreCAT TX08 offers SMBs an entry point into automated tape storage based upon LTO technology. The tape system has two magazines and four slots, can be equipped with either an LTO-2 or LTO-3 drive to provide up to 6.4TB of capacity (compressed), and can perform automated daily data backup for eight days. In addition, the TX08 includes a built-in barcode reader facilitating media management, and a full version of the BrightStor ARCserve backup software at no additional charge. The FibreCAT SX88 is available from October 1 with prices starting at €8400, while the FibreCAT TX08 will be available from November 1, priced at €3700.
Midsized businesses from an opportunity perspective are big business, especially in geographies such as EMEA where some of the largest firms would still qualify as midsized by a North American segmentation perspective. To succeed in this market, it is essential that vendors offer properly scaled solutions that address not only the technological needs of SMBs, but also their IT skill set, IT scale, and financial reality. Even though such midrange and smaller organizations are increasingly subject to all of the same IT risks and rewards as their larger counterparts, they generally lack specialized storage staff or expertise to create a best of breed solutions in-house. Their needs are straightforward: Give an SMB something that works out of the box, has sufficient integrated features, a reasonable toolkit, and financing that is affordable.
To this end, we are pleased to see FSC’s continued focus on creating appropriately scaled solutions that target the SMB without diluting the value proposition of the solution. As user expectations of IT rise, the storage demands of the SMB market will continue to grow, and as regulations increase, the timely storage and retrieval of data only continues to rise in importance. Easy-to-use platforms will be part of the solution, but support for state-of-the-art technology, e.g., SATA drives, LTO tape, automation, etc. will also be an essential part of SMB-focused wares. With this announcement, FSC continues to improve on its competitive position for entry- and mid-level storage solutions while delivering new technology in fresh solutions at attractive price points. From an SMB user perspective, this will likely be a welcome addition into the marketplace.
Motorola S/MIME
Motorola, Inc. has introduced Good Mobile Messaging Secure
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (Good S/MIME). Designed specifically to
meet federal government security policy requirements, Good S/MIME supports the
Motorola Q family of smartphones and gives the Department of Defense and
associated government agencies a mobile messaging solution that is more
personalized and easier to manage and administer than other alternatives. While
DoD agencies such as the Navy, Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force are highly
mobile and dependent upon secure, anywhere/anytime access to data to do their
jobs, their mobile email options have been limited. With stringent security
requirements such as the Homeland Security Presidential Directive, which
requires the use of Public Key Infrastructure, and DoD Directive 8100.2, which
mandates the use of a common access card (
Good S/MIME works with the Motorola Q family of smartphones,
Bluetooth
When the U.S. Government speaks with its purchasing power, vendors and other large end-user organizations ought to listen. We have published several pieces this year indicating the importance of safeguarding data by its value rather than by its location. We have also emphasized the notion of increased mobility, especially within large end-user organizations, and while we readily concede that the rigor of security enforcement within the Department of Defense is greater than in most organizations, DoD’s broad acceptance of the common access card and its ubiquity within that gargantuan department ought to make people stand up and take notice.
Motorola with its long history of secure voice systems for government organizations at all levels and its recent pushes in the area of first responders is positioned to grab an early lead in the secure mobile communication market. End-user reliance on BlackBerries and similar devices is on the upswing and unlike past technology trends in the military includes the top brass. Reliance on email and PowerPoint in particular are core to many government and especially military operations. Advanced security features such as disabling camera capabilities is another benefit welcomed by government security officials and we believe Motorola’s example is one other vendors and large end-user organizations with sensitive communications to mobile employees ought to look at.