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While email security continues to be important, the Web has become attackers' vector of choice - bringing a new security market to the forefront: Web security. Web 2.0 technologies have opened the door even wider for attackers with malicious intent as the open, collaborative environments become easy targets for infection and potentially data loss.
Websense has been the industry's innovator in the Web security market, and the industry has taken note. IDC has released its latest Web security report which confirms Websense is the global market leader in Web security with 21 percent of the $1.2 billion market. Websense's market share is more than the combined total market share of the next two largest Web security vendors.
In early 2001, Websense researchers were gathering URL data for classification and addition to the company's database of URLs. Even though the dozens of machines used to gather the data were equipped with anti-virus and firewalls, they became infected with Web-based malicious code. This discovery led Websense to establish its world-class Security Labs team, and to develop its first Web security solution.
"We realized as we looked at how our machines were infected with malicious code through the Web - even with the latest security updates, patches and anti-virus technology, that the Web was going to be the future of cyber-attacks," said Dan Hubbard, vice president, security research, Websense. "We knew that in order to protect customers from the types of attacks our own computers encountered, we need to have technology that could scour millions of Web sites every day for malicious code and then send out immediate updates - preventing customers from ever reaching the compromised sites. From this need our ThreatSeeker™ technology was born - and today it scans more than 600 million sites a week."
When Websense unveiled its Web security solution, there were still skeptics that the Web would ever surpass email as the most popular attack vector. "We started speaking at events, evangelizing the need for Web security and talking to customers about how the Web was being used for malicious purposes, and many people doubted that it could be used in the way we now see attacks created and launched," added Hubbard.
Dan Cotelo, lead technician of Central Coast Community
Health Care
True to Websense predictions, within a short period of time, cybercriminals began to shift attack methods, using the Web to launch more sophisticated attacks. In 2006, Websense Security Labs reported that not only was malicious code more sophisticated, but the infrastructure supporting its creation and spread was also more complex. The criminal motive of attacks also shifted with traditional "hacking for fun" replaced with activities designed to steal confidential data to reap financial rewards. The labs also noted a 100 percent increase in sites designed to install keyloggers, screen scrapers and other forms of crimeware in 2006.
Today, Web security is a must-have for enterprises and small businesses. No longer are anti-virus and firewall technology alone, effective. In the IDC study, "Worldwide Web Security 2007-2011 Forecast and 2006 Vendor Shares" (Excerpt from IDC #210034, December 2007) by IDC Analyst Brian Burke, the demand and interest in Web security solutions is being fueled by corporate concerns about Internet threats that have become increasingly complex. Some of the key Web security trends identified by IDC include Web 2.0 technologies, blended Web-based threats and data loss prevention.
Only Websense has the solutions to address all three concerns - Web security, messaging security and data loss prevention.