Certification - May 2008 - (Page 7) picture. We felt there [had been] a struggle to represent what [a cyberthreat] really looks like, and when we found Alex, we felt he could produce accurate representations because the pictures are based on actual virus and malware code.” While Dragulescu’s art may have started as a tool to help people picture the threats they face online, it has made an impact on the technology side of MessageLabs just the same. Since previously visualized cyberthreats looked the same, Dragulescu’s variety of threats has showcased the depth of what antivirus firms such as MessageLabs have to deal with everyday. Through the drawings, “even similar threats can be represented quite differently. They are all very similar internally,” Schipka said. The renderings of cyberthreats serve to illuminate the fact that internally similar threats may still look and behave differently, and interrupting them requires casting a wide net. “That’s one of the challenges the antivirus industry has: One of the same family of threats can actually be a lot different and require a different approach or tools to take it apart and figure it out,” Schipka said. “So antivirus researchers end up being specialists in a wide variety of technologies, not just one, and I think the pictures quite well represent that.” Because of this, the functionality of these images is twofold for MessageLabs. On one hand, the provocative pictures get people’s attention, and on the other, they show people that the world of online threats isn’t as simple as a virus here or a phishing scam there, but it includes many versions of all different types of threats. “In the media, the old visualization attempts were perhaps a bit distant from the threat itself, and those attempts to represent the precise threat were not suitable for media,” Schipka said. “Alex’s work has satisfied both the technical people and the marketing people.” 8 – Ben Warden, editor@certmag.com SERVING IT GOVERNANCE PROFESSIONALS ISACA Now Offering a New Certification in IT Governance Certified in the Governance of Enterprise ITTM (CGEITTM) recognizes IT professionals who have the knowledge, personal skill and business experience to maximize IT’s contribution to enterprise success while managing and mitigating the risks posed by IT. • Supports the growing business demands related to IT governance • Increases the awareness and importance of IT governance good practices and issues • Defines the roles and responsibilities of the professionals performing IT governance work First Exam: December 2008 Grandfathering Program Now Available! Apply for certification without taking the CGEIT exam through 31 October 2008. Visit www.isaca.org/cgeit for more information. http://www.isaca.org/cgeit http://www.isaca.org/cgeit
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.