Waytek representatives recently attended the Cyber Security Symposium held by Kaspersky Lab in New York City on October 6th, where Kaspersky Lab also launched its latest edition of Kaspersky’s Antivirus/Anti-malware products.

What made the event especially interesting was that the majority of it was an informal panel discussion of Eugene Kaspersky, the founder and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, Steve Adegbite, Director of Strategic Cyber Innovations for Lockheed Martin, and Gary McGraw, CTO of Cigital. The panel was moderated by Peter Firstbrook, the Director of Research for Gartner, who later gave his own presentation on the state of cyber security today.

Eugene Kaspersky gave the opening comments on the increased level of cyber threats. He emphasized that the threat now is geared to not only individuals and companies, but also to nations. Kaspersky listed many things that governments could do to ensure safety, such as regulations and possible use of internet ID’s, much as we all have driver’s licenses and have our automobiles registered. While governments may have work to do protecting our internet security, the main solution for all of us is to take advantage of advanced protection technologies.

In the panel discussion, Steve Adegbite made some compelling points that resonated with us, as Managed Services Providers. He stressed that companies need to build security inside their DNA. It has to become second nature. He also stressed the need for bringing the public and private sector together to work on regulation. Security is like a seatbelt, he claimed; it won’t prevent the attack, but it will help you walk away from it. Adegbite’s most striking point for us was that technology needs to get better and faster, and that there is a great need for companies to take over IT operations security for SMB’s, who do not have the time or expertise to focus on it.

Firstbrook gave his own presentation on the need for filtering, blocking sites and polluted channels and identifying vulnerability in maintaining a responsible level of security. The event ended with the introduction of the newly released Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8, the latest edition of Kaspersky products. Its focus is on protection, featuring superior anti-malware technology, and control, including comprehensive management, which improves efficiency and productivity.

All in all, the event was thought-provoking, and it made us eager to continue to work on investigating and providing the best in IT security, staying ahead of all forms of cyber crime.