Search Party: Why Security Pros Should Master Google

One of the reasons security is fun and interesting is that it requires a constant upgrade of your skills and knowledge.

By Derek Slater
Thu, July 02, 2009

CSO — One of the reasons security is fun and interesting is that it requires a constant upgrade of your skills and knowledge.

Five Slick Search Engines You Should Know About

Here is a skill that you may not have realized you need, but you need it: Become a master of Internet search.

Obviously I'm talking about a lot more than tossing a few words in the Google box and pushing the search button.

I'm talking about understanding how to run very specific searches to find information leaks within your company and outside of it, whether intentional or accidental. Such leaks might come in the form of intentional, outright posting of sensitive information by ex-employees. Or they might be misconfigured or forgotten Web applications that weren't supposed to be publicly accessible.

Other searches will help you find websites using your organization's trademarks for nefarious purposes, or selling counterfeit or grey-market products in your name. (See CSO Senior Editor Joan Goodchild's look at brand protection, which offers examples of CSOs playing a key role in this fight.

Still, other searches might turn up scraps of information on your own website that reveal information that hackers use to footprint your systems. Overly informative file-not-found error messages, for example.

* How good are you at Web search?

* Do you know how to find Excel spreadsheets posted on the Web?

* Do you know how to find documents that include key intellectual property phrases?

* Do you know how to winnow broad search results down to just the important ones?

* Do you know how to use Google news alerts and blogging tools to see what's being said about your company?

* Do you know how to find publicly available information as part of an employee background check?

Happily, there is a lot of advice about search on the Web. You don't have to take out a student loan and go back to school to learn this skill.

Here is a wonderful tutorial on basic searches, provided by Google itself.

Here is an older CSOonline.com article that provides four searches you should run on your own company.

More recently investigations manager Brandon Gregg noted the importance of search in his article 5 Free Ways to Track Information Online.

Why not fire up your browser and find other good resources yourself?

You are here: Technology Topics » Security » Advice & Opinion

Most Recent Security Stories

White Papers »

Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory

As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable, enforceable processes that reduces administrative overhead and enables robust, customizable reporting and auditing capabilities. Brought to you by NetIQ.

Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware

Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring (FIM) tools that provide immediate alerts. This white paper has been brought to you by NetIQ, the leader in solving complex IT challenges.

Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.

Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in organizations worldwide. This white paper from NetIQ, discusses key technology solutions that help to prevent and detect insider threats.

X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps

This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into creating a compliant and secure IT environment. Follow these four proactive steps now before your next audit. Brought to you by NetIQ.

Streamline Compliance and Increase ROI

Streamline, simplify, and automate compliance related activities; especially those that impact multiple business units. This white paper from NetIQ, outlines solutions that will help your business gain the maximum return on investment possible while aligning your compliance programs.

Identity Governance: The Business Imperatives

This white paper describes the business challenges and opportunities that are driving interest in Identity Governance while discussing considerations your organization should make to help achieve project success.

Webcasts »

Gartner Next Generation Network IPS Webcast

Learn how Gartner's criteria for next generation IPS helps organizations achieve effective threat prevention despite changes in network communications, new applications, and changes in the threat landscape.

McAfee Continuous Compliance

3 minute Flash video - overview of the need for and value of Configuration Control.

Taming the Wild West: How to build a strong cloud security strategy

Cloud deployments are playing a critical role in propelling innovation for many companies. At the same time security has become the #1 one of the top concerns for IT and business leaders as they migrate into the cloud. In this webinar, learn from Accenture discusses how to recast the cloud as a "fresh chance to rethink your approach to security."

Virtualization Success is a Team Effort

As greater numbers of datacenter servers transition from the physical to the virtual world, the components of virtualization success come to the fore. What scores of organizations have discovered is that success is derived from an optimal pairing of the right software platform with the right hardware platform.

Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware

Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn about VMware customer, Navicure, and their experiences testing and evaluating the recovery manager, their progress in implementing it in their environment and their advice other customers considering using vCenter.

Quantifying the Business Value of VMware View - Webcast

Many enterprises have discovered that the use of virtualization to support desktop workloads creates a range of significant benefits. These benefits include price efficiencies, improved IT management and greater agility and choice for end users.

This VMware sponsored webcast with IDC will provide both quantitative measurement of the business value -- defined as the expected ROI -- and qualitative analysis associated with the use of VMware View™. IDC will also provide an analysis of the View Composer and ThinApp™ features of VMware View, including the business value of these solutions and an overview of how they work.

Attend this webcast to learn about:
- Challenges and barriers that might impede the adoption of desktop virtualization
- Navigating roadblocks to facilitate a strategic implementation
- Optimizing qualitative and quantitative benefits to IT and your business

Newsletter Sign-Up »

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter