Yesterday's post referred to an article that contained an interesting quote: "The sheer magnitude of the issue of data security has rendered antivirus programs obsolete and ineffective. As such, no single technology can successfully serve to safeguard the network from the multi-dimensional nature of the menace of cyber crime."

Anti-virus software ineffective? Isn't that a little bold? Well, believe it or not, it might actually be true.

Author's Note: Dan and Shane wrote some pretty wonderful articles yesterday, so I am feeling pretty nervous about this one.

NetSecure Technologies' security guru, Nima Sharifimehr and I were having a conversation about this blog and some articles we hope to write together. After a particularly enlightening conversation on fields like privacy, social media, information security, and sidejacking methods, I asked him for a list of things that he would teach every internet user in the world about security.

I’m irked.  More than irked.  I think it’s downright evil.

I’m talking about security products that aren’t real security products.  They serve no real purpose but to defraud people from hard-earned money.  You may have heard about spyware, you may even have heard about malware, but chances are, you haven’t heard much about scareware.

The United States Federal Government has announced spending of $7 Billion on High-speed broadband networks as part of a $787 billion economic stimulus package. While the investment is mainly to create jobs (Information Technology & Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson says the spending will "ensure 2 million American Jobs"), it also seems to be part of a larger world-wide trend to get as many people hooked up to high-speed as possible. Many compare it to highways and telephone lines of years past and it's quickly becoming a staple, not a luxury.

This is great news for online retailers as broadband usage is shown to be closely tied to e-commerce activity. It seems straight forward enough; the faster the internet the more people can do in the same amount of time on their computer and that often includes making purchases. More people shopping online coupled with more stores focusing on online retail (given the ______ (insert expletive here) economy and the low cost of running an online store vs. a brick and mortar store) means there could be a major shift to much more online shopping. Research firms have been predicting it for years, but with the added urgency to make broadband more available (the $7bn must be spent by the end 2010) the maturation of the online retail channel could happen sooner rather than later.

Today Frost and Sullivan released a report on endpoint security that is precisely in line with what NetSecure has been preaching for a long time: the most significant issue in security today isn’t the firewall or network –it’s the endpoint. Despite the significant investment in security infrastructure at most corporations, breaches occur with shocking frequency, largely due to the gigantic security hole at the end user’s computer. In layman’s terms, companies are spending big bucks on securing their network and data, and almost nothing to secure their end users and customers. They’ve invested heavily in ensuring their doors are locked, but aren’t taking the time to make sure their employees and customers are taking care of the keys.

Cyber criminals know this; they’ve stopped trying to break through the door. They’re coming after you to get the keys. And they’ve gotten very, very good at it.