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The Internet just got more dangerous to businesses

August 31, 2012 by Brad Cyprus — Chief of Security and Compliance, Vendor Safe Technologies

Internet browsing is one of the most painful parts of managing a security program. We are constantly having to educate our own customers as to why we limit browsing to the Internet from the POS stations we protect. People are simply used to being able to browse where they want when they want, and they do not understand all of the dangers that are on the Internet.

According to an August 27th article on Reuters, entitled Latest Java software opens PCs to hackers, there is a new exploit associated with the latest version of Java that is often installed as a plug-in on a browser. Java is a universal programing language that works on multiple platforms, such as Windows, MAC, Linux, and Unix. Its interoperability is what makes it so popular because the same code can be executed on a variety of machines without the developer having to rewrite the software. Unfortunately, a security flaw has been found in the most recent release of Java, and it has the potential to affect millions of computers on the Internet.

The way this exploit works is insidious. Users can have their machines compromised by simply going to an infected website. There will not be any visible indication that the computer was compromised, and the user will not be asked to download or click on anything. Simply accessing the compromised website will be enough. Once you go to a malicious site, you have lost the battle, and your computer will be infected (assuming you have the flawed version of Java).

Once a computer has been exploited, a hacker will have the ability to do anything from that station that user would have permission to do. This might include installing a key logger, looking at data files, or simply watching the desktop to learn how to break into the network.

There was a time, long ago, when you could feel secure using the Internet as long as you followed a few simple guidelines. These included, staying away from disreputable sites, not agreeing to allow unexpected software to install or run, and avoiding links in e-mails from people who you do not implicitly trust. Those simple days are over. Just going to a dangerous site now can infect your machine without any other action on your part.

Live by this rule - Any machine that can get to the Internet can be compromised. It is therefore prudent to limit machines with access to sensitive data, such as credit cards, to the most restrictive browsing policy that still allows your business to operate. To see if you are vulnerable to this specific Java exploit, you can visit the following site set up by a company called Rapid7.

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