SANS – Sysadmin, Audit, Network and Security Organization Essay

SANS (or SysAdmin, Adult, Networking, and Security) is arguably the largest company providing computer security training and certification. Apart from that, this organization offers its users an archive for research needs. At present, it comprises several branches or departments, namely Internet Storm Center, Technology Institute, and Security Certification. This company was founded in 1989; initially it specialized only in show casting technical conferences or presentation. Yet, with time passing, it switched to more profitable format, for instance to advertising, training courses, and providing certificates. This organization was established mostly for educational purposes. At the moment, it is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland (SANS).

Apart from that, SANS constantly releases the soft and hardware security vulnerabilities. The management in the vast majority of companies or federal agencies tends to relies on the information, while shaping their security policies. In this essay, we are going to refer to the so-called Consensus Security Alert, which contains a report of new viruses or other programs, which lead to the malfunction of the computer systems.

We need to focus on thee most recent security alerts. The first one was raised on April 23, 2009. This malware is a cross-platform virus it operates in Window, Linux and Microsoft, the program can be classified as a backdoor, it enables to penetrate into the system without identification. The second vulnerability was detected on April 30, 2009. The virus is also cross-platform, and yet it is primarily aimed at damaging hardware, particularly the hard-disk. At this moment, these viruses are not fully detectible. The third alert was posted on the fifth of May; the program is oriented on Windows platform. To some degree it can be labeled as spyware but it may also damage valuable data.

This service, provided by SANS, keeps users informed of ever-changing world of malware and helpful tips for coping with these problems.

Bibliography

SANS. “The Consensus Security Alert”. Web.