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Club system safeguards: protecting proprietary data.

Article Excerpt
Lost, stolen or compromised data is unparalleled in its ability to quickly undermine the club's image and rattle member confidence. This fact alone should be sufficient to lead the club to safeguard its technology applications and use care in protecting proprietary information. Recognizing the degree of exposure and vulnerability of club technology has led club managers to be proactive by prioritizing data security as an area of emphasis. In an attempt to increase data security, clubs have implemented an array of preventative measures under the comprehensive classification of anti-malware, including anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware, and anti-intrusion (firewall) software.

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Authentication

Authentication is the means of verifying the identity of a person or entity. It also can be used to verify that information and data being transmitted is the same information that originally was sent and who sent it. Closely associated with authentication is authorization, which determines the level of rights and privileges available to the authenticated entity. Tying authentication and authorization together is identity management. Identity management encompasses a host of solutions and applications that provide varying levels of security and user management.

The primary authentication method adopted for automated systems is standalone user name and password systems. This means that for each application, or system, that requires access, there is a specific user name and password created for the user. The application will maintain its own database of access credentials, and the information usually is not shared among multiple applications. However, as the number of applications and users expand, user names and passwords create security, scalability and manageability problems.

Anti-Malware

Malware (short for malicious software) describes invasive software designed to disrupt and/or damage a system's functionality. Malware can appear in the form of a virus application, replicating worm, intrusive file component, security system bypass or administrative network controller. In the past, anti-malware programs relied on binary patterns called signatures to identify and categorize system threats (e.g., viruses, spam, spyware and related intrusions)....

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