BOSTON – A study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of McAfee examining the use of Web 2.0 technology in the enterprise has found that it will continue to increase.

The survey, entitled “Next-Generation Secure Web Gateway Trends and Requirements,” polled 253 IT professionals and security decision makers around the world. It concluded that the role of Web filtering was changing from a security-centric function to more of a business function, and that data loss prevention (DLP) was considered important, but was not yet practiced universally.

As well, the study found that increasing numbers of organizations are using Web filtering beyond basic security protection to incorporate functions such as productivity management, traffic quality of service (QoS) management, and single sign-on (SSO).

As well, an increasing number of companies said that Web 2.0 usage takes more than fifty percent of their bandwidth. Sixty three percent of companies surveyed said they believed that the use of Web 2.0 applications would increase in their organization in the next 12 months, and many respondents indicated that they consider these Web 2.0 applications useful for business purposes.

Forrester found that data leaks remain one of the top concerns for organizations. When asked to rate the impact of several Web-related risks, including data leaks, malware, loss of productivity, non-business use of bandwidth, and liability for inappropriate content, respondents chose data leaks as the number one issue on the Web.

Although eighty six percent consider data leaks an important threat, when asked what policy they have to govern internal employees contributing content to external blogs and wikis, only sixty eight percent said they impose some form of restriction (either complete block or selective block), while thirty one percent said they do not have any restriction for employees to access these third-party sites.

According to the study, “It is clear DLP is a top-of-mind concern for many organizations. Web communication, however, remains a weak link. Despite the fact many companies in this survey consider data leaks an important business threat, only a small percentage is actually using DLP technologies in outbound Web communication.”

The study also found that malware, traditionally distributed via email, is now using the Web as a primary distribution channel. Forty percent of all organizations spent more than $50,000 last year on malware cleanup alone, and nearly twenty percent spent more than $100,000.

As well, the content security industry, including email and Web filtering, is beginning to exhibit the trend of consolidation. Eighty five percent of all respondents indicated that they would be more likely to employ an integrated content filtering solution that provides centralized policy management, configuration, and integrated DLP.

Web filtering is taking on functionality outside of security or usage policies. Organizations are realizing that the Web filtering solution may be the right place for other related traffic management functions.

Based on its findings, the study recommended that companies consider investing in or enhancing a solid in-the-cloud infrastructure and specific Web malware detection software, and deploy a strong strategy of integration and consolidation.

“Today’s content security requires integrated analysis that spans Web, email, and even other protocols, including IM, P2P, and VoIP,” the study said. “A successful cross-protocol analysis relies on an in-the-cloud infrastructure that can look across traffic of different types and perform real-time or near-real-time analysis. Such an infrastructure also provides a strong foundation for SaaS or a hybrid delivery model, which is likely to be more widely adopted in the near future.”

Regarding malware detection, the study noted that Web malware is different from traditional viruses in that many Web malware are script-based and can change rapidly and take on many different forms. As a result, a traditional signature-based scanning approach is less effective against Web malware, and an effective strategy should include script analysis, code analysis, and even sandbox-based behaviour analysis.

Survey results also indicated that organizations both small and large regarded integration and consolidation an important content security strategy. Organizations should consider vendors that have capabilities in multiple content protocols and have a strong integration strategy.

This column was written by Erin Bell of ConnectIT, an IntegratedMarCompany

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