Kaspersky Lab: Securing PH Businesses

RAPID GROWTH OF VIRTUALIZATION IN PH SETS 

OFF KASPERSKY LAB’S NEW SECURITY PLATFORM

Suk Ling Gun, Kaspersky Lab’s corporate sales director for Asia Pacific as she discussed the features of Kaspersky Security for Virtualization to members of the IT media in a press briefing in Makati  City recently. 
(photo from Kaspersky Lab)

Makati, Philippines-- Recognizing the need to protect the growing numbers of companies using virtualized networks, Kaspersky Lab, a leading secure content and threat management solutions developer, recently launched its latest security technology in the Philippines to ensure businesses will “Be Ready for What’s Next.”

The Kaspersky Security for Virtualization (KSV), a new security platform that supports virtualized environments, is focused on protecting the evolving corporate IT infrastructures from malware and cybercriminals. Virtualization creates tremendous business and IT benefits for organizations globally, but if left unprotected these platforms may become a weak link for cybercriminals to exploit.

In a survey conducted to 100 companies by Kaspersky Lab’s exclusive distributor iSecure Networks, it showed that the IT virtualization is gaining ground in the Philippines with the 63 percent of the respondents were either in the process of implementing or were already implementing virtualized environments.

The survey on IT virtualization and security thoughts, which targeted Philippine corporations also reveals how companies are reacting to threats and what they are doing to address these problems.

Consequently, 87 percent of the companies surveyed said they were not satisfied with existing security applications being offered in virtualized environments. To address these issues, Kaspersky Security for Virtualization is delivered as a virtual security appliance that integrates with VMware vShield™ Endpoint to provide agent-less, anti-malware security based upon Kaspersky Lab’s advanced anti-malware engine.

Developed from the same code-base as Kaspersky Lab’s award-winning line of endpoint security products, Kaspersky Security for Virtualization avoids the needless complexity and resource-drain associated with security programs that typically “bolt-on” acquired technology for virtual environments. With Kaspersky Lab, customers have a single, unified management platform for their virtual, physical and mobile environments.

KSV also has advanced anti-malware engine that provides superior detection and effective malware remediation. Understanding that companies implement virtualization to reach efficiency, KSV delivers protection in an agent-less form with a centralized anti-malware engine and signature database. This ensures that there is no redundancy or duplication of engine and database.

Suk Ling Gun, Kaspersky Lab’s director of corporate sales for Asia Pacific, said that despite a seemingly high level of familiarity of Filipino companies on IT virtualization, expectations on virtualized network security are just as equally significant. This can be attributed to increased awareness of vulnerabilities on private networks that could be exploited by cybercriminals.

But even as security remains a concern among these companies, 72 percent of the respondents expressed that they will still implement a form of virtualization in the next 12 months.

With expenses being the utmost reason for IT virtualization deployment, close to 50 percent of the surveyed firms said they have done virtualization on their mail and web servers, with 17 percent on storage servers.

Aside from cost, security is also a major consideration among companies that were concerned that their IT infrastructure could be subject to hacking and malicious software. But the survey, conducted in April this year, also showed a surprisingly small number of companies (31 percent) have applied security applications on their virtualized network.

“Businesses are seemingly aware of threats that might come when they transition to virtualization and that is why they look at security quite consciously. This just means that for companies, it is not just about cost savings and long-term reliability, but also the security that can be afforded to their infrastructure,” said Gun.

She added that among the factors that could also affect deployment of security in a virtualized environment is the complexity of the security platform itself; as companies attempt to reduce time management of their IT infrastructure they are also hoping that their security applications would not impede their operations.

“Time is an important aspect for businesses and they do not want to spend too much time in protecting their virtualized environments. They want a security application that would protect them from all types of threats without costing their IT managers time to respond,” Gun said.

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About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for consumers, SMBs and Enterprises. The company currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

*The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2010. The rating was published in the IDC report Worldwide IT Security Products 2011-2015 Forecast and 2010 Vendor Shares – December 2011. The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2010.

On the positive side

Lifting Up Spirits

There are days when the sun shines too hot and bright.

There are also times when it suddenly hides from the heavy, black clouds that any moment can pour down tiny drops of water until it flooded the whole city.

These are the times that you want to know why these days exist?

Why do people have to experience difficulty and failure in life?

When I feel these days are coming, I read a lot of books about positive affirmation. If I am too busy to browse a book or too afraid that my boss would catch me reading and doing aside from usual work, I check the Internet. 

Here, I saw these inspiring words from famous and successful people that once has been in my shoes. Or maybe walked a harder and rougher path but defy all the hardships.

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed."- Michael Jordan

"In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.  " 
- Anthony J. D'Angelo

"  In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.  "
-Bill Cosby

Perfect Match

“Green Hornet” actor Jay Chou as Kaspersky Lab’s new Brand Ambassador for Asia Pacific

Actor and musician, Jay Chou is now the new brand ambassador Kaspersky Lab, a leading secure content and threat management solutions developer, for the Asia Pacific. This is part of the of the unique branding strategies of Kaspersky Lab to protect and disseminate information about security and new products to more than 300 million users globally.

Chou hit the international market with the remake of the Green Hornet, where he portrayed the character of Kato (formerly played by Bruce Lee in the TV series).

                  

The Taiwanese actor is also a film director, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, a one-man entertainment juggernaut, who effortlessly combines Chinese and Western music styles in an eclectic mix of R&B, rock, pop and ethnic music. He is also gifted with a personality that wins fans and friends globally.

With his versatility as an artist, Chou earned the respect of millions of Asian and Western artists and fans.

His popularity has also earned him the spot of becoming the Asia Pacific Brand Ambassador for Kaspersky Lab.

Kaspersky Lab's award-winning products, services and technologies have exceptionally high and accurate malware detection rates, meeting Jay Chou's needs as an individual user and as a corporate network owner with important personal and corporate information to keep safe.

Under this partnership, Chou will work with Kaspersky Lab to launch new releases of products for home users and corporate users.

“Jay Chou is an amazing multi-talented entertainer and entrepreneur with a uniqueness, innovativeness and creativity that is an ideal match for Kaspersky Lab. As an individual and corporate user of our products who has a great interest in technology, Kaspersky and Jay Chou is an ideal match. We are excited about this partnership and look forward to much great collaborations with Jay,” said Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific Managing Director Harry Cheung.

Cheung said that the brand works towards achieving ever higher levels of security and threat management for a safer digital environment and is constantly on the lookout for ambassadors who can take the important message of security to a wider audience.

“Kaspersky has been experiencing tremendous growth over the past few years due to our market leading products and innovative campaigns. We are the only security brand working with high profile brand ambassadors who are able to embody the values and benefits of using our products,” Cheung said.

Chou, for his part, said that like the core values upheld by Kaspersky Lab, he also values quality of service and satisfaction of audiences. He understands that protecting one’s investments from a harsh digital crime is paramount and that all Internet users must also be able to put in place all the necessary precautions.

"I trust Kaspersky Lab fully as updates are speedy and constant. There is no downtime, no security breaches and malware gets dealt with quickly and efficiently. I have the peace of mind of the best protection. Kaspersky is my only choice for IT security protection'' Jay Chou said.

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world's largest privately-held Internet Security company, providing comprehensive protection against all forms of IT threats such as viruses, spyware, hackers and spam. The company's products provide in-depth computer defense for more than 300 million systems around the globe, including home and mobile users, small and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises. Kaspersky technology is also incorporated inside the products and services of nearly 100 industry-leading IT, networking, communications and applications solution vendors.

For further information about the company, please visit  http://www.kaspersky.com.

Pinoy students tops in Kaspersky Lab’s student conference on cybercrime

Filipino students win top prizes in Kaspersky Lab’s student conference on cybercrime in Hong Kong 

Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, announced that students from the Philippines bested 12 other finalists from various countries in the recently concluded regional preliminary round of the Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific and Middle East, Africa (MEA) Cup2012, an annual event that brings together students and young professionals from around the world in a collaborative environment to present and discuss issues relating to cybercrime.

The research papers presented by team leaders 21-year old Joshua Arvin Lat and 19-year old Ranyel Bryan Maliwanag won the first and second prizes, respectively, at the conference held on March 14 to 16 at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), a leading university in Asia in professional education and research.

Both Filipino students are from the University of the Philippines Department of Computer Science (UP-DCS). They said they carried out their researches at the department’s Computer Security Group.

 

Veniamin Ginodman, Kaspersky Lab head of educational programs management (left) poses with top prize winners Joshua Arvin Lat (center) and team member Rod Xavier Bondoc during the awarding ceremonies in Hong Kong. Not in photo is third team member Kevin Charles Atienza.

The top research paper written by Lat and his partners Kevin Charles Atienza and Rod Xavier Bondoc entitled “SOUL Sytem: Secure Online USB Login System,” recommended a secure online authentication system involving a two-factor authentication scheme using a password and an ordinary USB flash drive as a security token. The group took home US$1,500 in cash prize for their winning paper.

Veniamin Ginodman, Kaspersky Lab head of educational programs management (left) with second prize winners Ranyel Bryan Maliwanag and team mates Mariah Strella Indrinal and Marynyriene Silvestre during the awarding ceremonies in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Maliwanag and his team, composed of Mariah Strella Indrinal and Marynyriene Silvestre, created an application that uses voice recognition. Their research entitled, “Vox-Grid: A Mobile Voice Verification System,” which proposed a mobile voice verification system to improve the security of the username-password authentication scheme, won for the group a US$1,000 cash prize.

Third place winner was the research paper entitled “Mining Modules’ Dependencies for Malware Detection” by Masoud Narouei from the Shiraz University of Iran which won for him a cash prize of US$750.

This is the first time the Philippines joined the annual conference, which has this year’s theme of “IT Security for the Next Generation.”  

Their wins in the Asia Pacific and MEA Cup 2012 have earned for Lat and Maliwanag their respective spots to represent the Philippines in the 2012 Kaspersky International Cup of the IT Security Conference for Young Professionals to be held at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands on May 11-13, 2012. Kaspersky Lab is sponsoring the all-expense paid trip of the team leaders to the global round.

This time, they will be competing against the winners of the three other regional preliminary rounds held in America, Europe and Russia & Commonwealth of Independent States. Lat and Maliwanag as well as the other participants stand a chance to win the cash prize of 3,500 euros plus the opportunity of an internship at Kaspersky Lab or a visit to a professional Information Security conference together with the company's experts.

In the Hong Kong round, the research papers were presented and defended by Lat and Maliwanag to a panel of judges composed of experts from Kaspersky Lab as well as notable academicians and information technology experts from the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong.

The undergraduate students from UP competed with tertiary and post-graduate students from the Asia Pacific, Middle East and African regions.

Selection was based on scientific and methodological level of work, the social importance of the topic presented, completeness, objectivity with collected information, as well as practical and innovation value in different areas ranging from technical, social, economic to legal topics.

“The quality of papers presented was of a very high standard with much thought and creativity having been put into the content,” said Veniamin Ginodman, Head of Educational Programs Management at Kaspersky Lab.

“Kaspersky Lab is committed to continue holding this student conference annually as a platform to engage in open discussion and knowledge-sharing to develop shared strategies and solutions to combat the relentless evolution of cyber threats. We hope that with more knowledge-building and sharing activities, the region will have an excellent youth brain trust when it comes to cyber security-related issues. Clearly, there is much potential here that has not been fully tapped yet,” he said.

A total of 52 papers were submitted to this year’s conference, five of which were from the Philippines. In Southeast Asia, only Malaysia and the Philippines made it to the Asia Pacific & MEA Cup 2012.

“This conference has again brought together the best from the Asia Pacific and MEA region with excellent support from internationally recognized academicians and analysts,” said Harry Cheung, Managing Director for Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific.

“The cyber world is youth-driven and the contribution of the young participants in furthering knowledge on cybercrime will significantly add to the body of work now available,” he said. (HM)

Pinoy Students to represent PH

Pinoy students to represent in a student conference in Hong Kong

Two groups from the University of the Philippines (UP) have been selected as finalists in the upcoming international educational event by leading secure content and threat management solutions developer Kaspersky Lab.

Nineteen-year-old Ranyel Bryan Maliwanag and 21-year old Joshua Arvin Lat will represent the Philippines at the Kaspersky Lab International Student Conference Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa Cup 2012, an annual event that brings together students and young professionals in a collaborative environment to present and discuss issues relating to cybercrime.

The conference will be held from March 14 to 16 at the City University of Hong Kong. Both Maliwanag and Lat are from the UP Department of Computer Science (UP-DCS) Diliman Campus.

Maliwanag and his team, composed of Mariah Strella Indrinal and Marynyriene Silvestre, created an application that uses voice recognition. Their research title is “Vox-Grid: A Mobile Voice Verification System.”

Meanwhile, Lat and his partners Kevin Atienza and Rod Xavier Bondoc wrote a research paper entitled “SOUL System: Secure Online USB Login System.”

This is the first time that the Philippines will be joining the annual conference, with the theme of “IT Security for the Next Generation”. They will be vying for cash prizes ranging from US$750 up to US$1,500.

A total of 52 papers were submitted to this year’s conference, five of which were from the Philippines. In Southeast Asia, only Malaysia and the Philippines made it to the Asia Pacific & MEA Cup 2012.

Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific Managing Director Harry Cheung is very pleased that students from the Asia Pacific region are becoming more active participants in the company’s goal of involving the young minds in battling cybercrime through this conference.

City University of Hong Kong

“I congratulate all the lucky participants to the Asia Pacific and MEA Cup this year! This conference is a very good platform for our young, brilliant minds from the Asia Pacific region to cultivate their knowledge in understanding Internet security and eventually contribute innovative ways to improve cyber security,” Cheung said.

“I hope to see more of them join and really make the cut in the international round,” Cheung said.   

All submitted research papers had been evaluated by the education programs committee, which is made up of professors from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Australia as well as key members of Kaspersky Lab’s Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) Michael Molsner, Head of Research Center in Japan and Stefan Tanase, Senior Security Researcher based in Romania.

At Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific & MEA Cup 2012, the selected 15 research papers will be evaluated again through presentation and questions of the program committee members. Each student will be allocated 10 minutes presentation and five minutes Q&A by the program committee members.

Selection will be based on scientific and methodological level of work, the social importance of the topic presented, presentation skills & design, ability to answer queries from the panel, as well as practical and innovation value.

Three research papers will be selected in this round which will participate in the 2012 Kaspersky International Cup to be held at Delft Technical University in the Netherlands on May 11-13, 2012.

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The One who remains the same

This blog is about embracing changes because they say "the only constant thing in this world is change". Yes, everything changes and I think, God is the only one that remains the same. Thank you God for everyday and every night of my life. 

Even though it has been so difficult for me to cope with changes, I still manage to go with the flow even if it takes time to consider what are the things to let go and the things to keep. I am happy that You are still at my side guiding and keeping all in places. And sometimes, I am really amazed that You really do magics. My boss once said that the event turned out to be successful because of my hard work and luck. 


I was thinking at that time, I think it was not called luck, it is called blessings. Blessing from You Lord.


Thank you and I will remain faithful to You. I hope that one day, when the time comes that I will be asked by the gatekeeper of Your kingdom about the kind of life I spent on Earth, I may carry the answer that will send me to You.