- BBG IT Focus Group Meeting Debates Role of Information Security
More than ever, information is regarded by business and corporations as a highly valuable, tangible asset. Unfortunately, this value is also recognised by sophisticated groups able to mount attacks at any time and from anywhere, making organisations even more reliant on their information security team for effective defence.
Until recently, the threats to corporate information security came from individual hackers acting alone and largely for the peer prestige they earned but this threat has now evolved into the domain of more effective, well organised criminal groups who even fund their own research, with the aim of financial gain.
This was the stark message delivered to members of the British Business Group (Dubai & Northern Emirates) IT Focus Group, at a recent meeting which attracted senior IT practitioners from across the BBG membership.
When it comes to data breaches, recent research (Source: Verizon Business, Data Breach Report 2008) presented at the meeting showed that 66 per cent of victims did not even know the data was stored on the system involved; 73 per cent of victims did not discover the breach themselves; and 87 per cent of breaches were considered 'avoidable' through reasonable controls.
"The advantage clearly lies with the attackers who only have to find a single vulnerable spot, as security defenders try to identify and then plug every possible hole," said Dimitrios Petropoulos, Managing Director of Dubai-based Encode Middle East, who presented and discussed the issues with the group of IT professionals from the BBG.
"The Information security industry is responding to try to safeguard access to data," he added, "but it is a fast changing world and even compliance with current standards does not ensure protection or make you more secure. The past does not allow us to predict the future in information security and just because it hasn't happened yet does not mean it won't happen in the future."
The meeting discussed the potential for conflict between the needs of business and the need for security, and exchanged ideas on how information security should be managed, and by whom.
"Information security is about risk management and is not an IT issue. This means that there is an increasingly compelling argument for the security department being independent from and based outside the IT organisation - it should be a business enabler, be treated as a profit centre and be invisible to the end user," said Petropoulos.
Alec Letzer, Head of IT Security, Lloyds TSB Middle East had another view: "Our improvement in Dubai over the last 12 months has been dramatic. This has come about by evaluating and upgrading existing security processes and procedures with a soft but hands-on approach to reinforcing the need for security awareness and good practice at every level of the organisation," he said. "We have worked with all teams to ensure that security is embedded as a personal responsibility for which everybody is accountable. In fact, this approach has led to Lloyds TSB Middle East becoming an information security model for other parts of Lloyds Banking Group."
The BBG IT Focus Group is a newly formed (July 2009) group of IT professionals from BBG member organisations and beyond, chaired by Duncan Adamson, Managing Director of Intergence Systems Middle East, who commented: "This new IT Focus Group is successfully bringing together a mix of IT and non-IT professionals from across an interesting range of industries within the BBG membership, including legal, telecoms, software, recruitment and financial services."
Issued on behalf of Intergence Systems by WPR.
Notes to the Editor:
Intergence Systems is a leading independent IT Optimisation Consultancy, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and with regional offices in the Middle East and the Americas. The company was established in 2003 in response to clients' growing requirements for high level impartial expertise in networks and IT.
British Business Group, Dubai and the Northern Emirates
The BBG was set up in 1987 to encourage the development of British business in the UAE and undertakes a wide range of activities from communicating with decision makers and testing British goods to sharing best business practice. The group holds around 80 networking events, forums and seminars each year, attracting high profile and influential business leaders and speakers from around the world.
http://www.britbiz-uae.com
http://www.intergence.com
Tuesday 8 December 2009
Stop! It's Business Time for Cash4Gold-IE and MC Hammer
- Cash4Gold has Made MC Hammer, Three-Time Grammy Award-Winner, a Partner and Announces Drum 'n' Bass Legend Goldie Will Star in UK TV Adverts
Cash4Gold (http://www.Cash4Gold.com), the world's #1 gold buyer direct from consumers, has announced that MC Hammer has a financial interest in the business and will feature alongside Goldie in its next UK TV advert. The company, which has used technology to transform the practice of buying and selling gold, has serviced more than 900,000 satisfied customers in the UK, U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.
Three-time Grammy Award Winner MC Hammer is a social media expert and has lectured on the subject at prestigious universities as Harvard and Stanford. He has more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MCHammer) and has been advising Cash4Gold on ways to expand the business by employing social media technologies to reach customers.
Earlier this year MC Hammer featured in the company's highly acclaimed Super Bowl advert in the United States, following which Cash4Gold launched a national competition to find a UK celebrity to appear in its British TV commercials. The British public, through suggestions submitted via the website http://uk.cash4gold.com voted Goldie as its favourite UK celebrity to feature in an upcoming Cash4Gold advert during a competition. The lucky contest winner will join Goldie, Hammer and Aronson for tea tomorrow (12pm) at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's. Members of the media are welcome to come by to conduct interviews and photograph the event.
Goldie is a well-known personality who will bring a smile to the faces of the British public. His musical abilities were recently showcased in a different light on the BBC television programme Classic Goldie, on which he learnt to write a score for The Proms. He has also has appeared in several films, most notably the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough and Guy Ritchie's Snatch.
"We are delighted that the iconic MC Hammer has joined Cash4Gold as a partner" said Cash4Gold CEO Jeff Aronson. "As a company we have worked closely with Hammer on projects ranging from the Super Bowl ad to numerous charitable events with Feed The Children. In fact, on Wednesday we will be visiting a primary school in Sheffield to partner with the organisation and serve breakfast to children. It is a thrill to welcome Goldie onto the team and I think the British public will really enjoy seeing him in our UK adverts -his name, talents, broad appeal and famous gold teeth make him the perfect fit for Cash4Gold."
"Cash4Gold is a growing business and I'm excited to have been so closely involved," said MC Hammer. "We've had a great working relationship in the United States. It's going to be really fun bringing our brand and services to the people of the UK along with Goldie. We're going to let everyone know that it's time to take that broken or unwanted gold and get it sold. We're melting gold, baby!"
"It is an honour to have been voted by the British public as their favourite UK celebrity to feature in the ad," said Goldie. "I'm looking forward to a strong and close relationship with Cash4Gold. While Cash4Gold has already launched in the UK, I won't be sending in my gold teeth just yet as I'm sure that they will be part of my appeal for the ad".
Cash4Gold launched in the UK back in July and the company plans to continue its international expansion into six additional countries during 2010. U.K. residents who would like to sell their unwanted jewellery can visit http://www.Cash4Gold.com or call +44(0)800-064-GOLD(4653).
About Cash4Gold
Now open for business in the U.K., Cash4Gold is already well-established as the world's No. 1 buyer of precious metals, including gold, silver and platinum, from the general public. Cash4Gold has served over 900,000 customers since its inception, paying out millions of pounds for their broken or unwanted items. From its new base of operations in Sheffield, a city with a rich history in metal-working, Cash4Gold is effectively providing its fast, secure, convenient, discreet and 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed services to customers all across the United Kingdom. Visit Cash4Gold's website at http://www.cash4gold.com or call +44(0)800-064-GOLD(4653).
Cash4Gold (http://www.Cash4Gold.com), the world's #1 gold buyer direct from consumers, has announced that MC Hammer has a financial interest in the business and will feature alongside Goldie in its next UK TV advert. The company, which has used technology to transform the practice of buying and selling gold, has serviced more than 900,000 satisfied customers in the UK, U.S., Canada, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.
Three-time Grammy Award Winner MC Hammer is a social media expert and has lectured on the subject at prestigious universities as Harvard and Stanford. He has more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter (http://twitter.com/MCHammer) and has been advising Cash4Gold on ways to expand the business by employing social media technologies to reach customers.
Earlier this year MC Hammer featured in the company's highly acclaimed Super Bowl advert in the United States, following which Cash4Gold launched a national competition to find a UK celebrity to appear in its British TV commercials. The British public, through suggestions submitted via the website http://uk.cash4gold.com voted Goldie as its favourite UK celebrity to feature in an upcoming Cash4Gold advert during a competition. The lucky contest winner will join Goldie, Hammer and Aronson for tea tomorrow (12pm) at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's. Members of the media are welcome to come by to conduct interviews and photograph the event.
Goldie is a well-known personality who will bring a smile to the faces of the British public. His musical abilities were recently showcased in a different light on the BBC television programme Classic Goldie, on which he learnt to write a score for The Proms. He has also has appeared in several films, most notably the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough and Guy Ritchie's Snatch.
"We are delighted that the iconic MC Hammer has joined Cash4Gold as a partner" said Cash4Gold CEO Jeff Aronson. "As a company we have worked closely with Hammer on projects ranging from the Super Bowl ad to numerous charitable events with Feed The Children. In fact, on Wednesday we will be visiting a primary school in Sheffield to partner with the organisation and serve breakfast to children. It is a thrill to welcome Goldie onto the team and I think the British public will really enjoy seeing him in our UK adverts -his name, talents, broad appeal and famous gold teeth make him the perfect fit for Cash4Gold."
"Cash4Gold is a growing business and I'm excited to have been so closely involved," said MC Hammer. "We've had a great working relationship in the United States. It's going to be really fun bringing our brand and services to the people of the UK along with Goldie. We're going to let everyone know that it's time to take that broken or unwanted gold and get it sold. We're melting gold, baby!"
"It is an honour to have been voted by the British public as their favourite UK celebrity to feature in the ad," said Goldie. "I'm looking forward to a strong and close relationship with Cash4Gold. While Cash4Gold has already launched in the UK, I won't be sending in my gold teeth just yet as I'm sure that they will be part of my appeal for the ad".
Cash4Gold launched in the UK back in July and the company plans to continue its international expansion into six additional countries during 2010. U.K. residents who would like to sell their unwanted jewellery can visit http://www.Cash4Gold.com or call +44(0)800-064-GOLD(4653).
About Cash4Gold
Now open for business in the U.K., Cash4Gold is already well-established as the world's No. 1 buyer of precious metals, including gold, silver and platinum, from the general public. Cash4Gold has served over 900,000 customers since its inception, paying out millions of pounds for their broken or unwanted items. From its new base of operations in Sheffield, a city with a rich history in metal-working, Cash4Gold is effectively providing its fast, secure, convenient, discreet and 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed services to customers all across the United Kingdom. Visit Cash4Gold's website at http://www.cash4gold.com or call +44(0)800-064-GOLD(4653).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
