Not enough spent on security
24th August 2004 (The Star)
By By STEVEN PATRICK

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite increasing virus attacks on networks, small companies are spending only 5% of their IT budgets on security.

"Security is rather expensive," said Transition Systems (M) Sdn Bhd product sales manager of security, William Phuah.

"The rule of thumb is that companies should spend 10% of their IT budgets on security, but small companies usually only spend 5%. We expect that to change in two years as security gets more affordable," he told In.Tech recently.

In February, National ICT Security and Emergence Response Centre (Niser) director Lt Col Husin Jazri urged companies in the private sector to enhance their security readiness and capabilities.

Husin told the press that about 60% of Malaysia's critical infrastructure -- like utilities, finance, and transportation - was owned by the private sector, and any breaches in security could have serious implications for the nation.

Phuah meanwhile said that security should go beyond firewalls and should also protect from internal and external threats. This is something that the Juniper Netscreen security solution, distributed by his company, does.

"Netscreen is one of the biggest players in hardware -based security. It has Deep Inspection technology, which has the flexibility to filter out packets and find malicious content," he said.

"An intrusion detection and prevention box scans traffic running within the network," he added.

The Juniper Networks Netscreen line of security solutions allows enterprises to secure their remote sites, regional offices and networks.

Netscreen provides secure access to employees, partners and customers from untrusted networks, securing the network by replacing legacy WANs (wide area networks) with IPSec virtual private networks (VPNs).

Transition Systems' services include data distribution, voice, network, Internet security, storage solutions and others. The company, headquartered in Singapore, has offices in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and India.

It is also the distributor for Cisco, Fluke, Alcatel, Lucent, Veritas and others; and provides value-added services and support to its channels, said Phuah.

This includes installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, on-site support, maintenance services and training courses. "Our strong point is the manpower we have for training and consulting. We're not just pushing boxes," he claimed.

Transition Systems will showcase both its network and security solutions at Asean Communications and Multimedia Expo (ACM Expo) 2004, which will feature the latest in communications and multimedia technologies, including wireless broadband, mobile Internet and satellite solutions.

ACM Expo 2004 is being held as part of Malaysia ICT Week 2004 (MICTW 2004), which is officially hosted by the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry, with The Star-In.Tech as the official newspaper.

Other MICTW events include the MSC Expo, National E -Commerce Expo, Impress, E-Security, IBIS and Smart Card Technology; as well as conferences such as the 8th MSC International Advisory Panel Meeting and the MSC Business Summit, scheduled for Sept 1-2 at the Putrajaya Convention Centre.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is expected to officially launch MICTW at the ACM Summit 2004.