Instant messaging (IM) programs such as Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and ICQ have been a challenge for IT security professionals for many years. Personally, I have dealt with IM and P2P file-sharing security issues in many different environments, from educational institutions to large corporates. I have tried to control them using different security appliances and solutions including Microsoft ISA Server and Cisco PIX along with security awareness and training for staff.
However, in turns of security issues, IM and P2P file-sharing programs are being superseded by cloud drive utilities such as DropBox and CloudMe Easy Upload. Cloud storage is being used to over come email attachment limitation and to facilitate better file sharing. However, this type of application introduces new problems for information security professionals.
Paul Asadoorian at Tenable Network Security blog has written an interesting article about cloud storage security issues in corporate networks. He discusses the challenges and provides a solution by introducing a new plugin for Tenable’s Nessus vulnerability scanner which can detect DropBox on Microsoft Windows and OS X.
