network middle east - april 2013
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Network Middle East - April 2013 - Volume 19 - Issue 4 "60 Pages" ITP Technology Publishing, Dubai, UAETRANSCRIPT
AN ITPTECHNOLOGYPUBL ICATION
APRIL 2013 VOLUME 19
ISSUE 4
SECURING YOUR STAY: HOTELS MUST HAVE NETWORK SEPARATION TO ENSURE SAFE CONNECTIVITYP36
CLOUD ON THE HORIZON
HOTELS ARE BEGINNING TO
IMPLEMENT CLOUD P44
IT experts and IT managers look at the issues associated with securing and maintaining the hotel network
HOTELS IN FOCUS
“Internet free with the room is more important than a
free breakfast.” PRASANNA RUPASINGHE,
P29
Contents
2 Editor’s letter: The hotel network
nightmare
4 Network news: The hardest hitting
news from the network industry
10 Managing bandwidth in the
hospitality industry
12 Hotels – Fall easy prey to wireless
hacks!
14 The four steps to IT consolidation
nirvana
16 Rack security and protection
19 Vendor profile: Interactive
Intelligence
22 Training focus: Catch the digital
intruder
24 Case study: Royal Caribbean
safeguards the guest experience
28 Case study: Kempinski boosts wi-fi to
meet guest expectations
50 Security head-to-head: Hotel
network security
52 Security news: All of the latest
security news for March
55 Day in the life: Akram Assaf – CTO-
Bayt.com
56 Last Word: Customer inspiration
28: Kempinski boosts Wi-Fi to meet guest expectationsKempinski chose Aruba networks to
implement a hotel wide wi-fi upgrade that
included implementing in-room IPTV and
connected mini-bars
36: Securing your stayNetwork separation, secure Wi-Fi access and updates security software are just some of the
necessities to protect the public and private network in the hospitality industry, according to
regional experts.
44: Cloud on the horizonWhile cloud is definitely a technology of
interest for hotels in the Middle East and
GCC region, levels of adoption are still low
due to implementation costs and security
concerns, writes Piers Ford.
Apr
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13 V
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Edito
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omm
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Securing the hotel network
is not simple; in fact, it is
far more complex than
creating a network for a
large business. This is due to the
constant infl ux of guests’ personal
devices, any of which could be
carrying viruses and malware that
can get into the hotel’s network
and steal important data.
To properly secure the
network, the administration
functions, which hold the hotel
applications, guest data, credit
card information and other
personal information, must be
completely separated from the
public network, which guests can
connect to with their multiple
personal devices. This separation
must be put in place to ensure
that guests cannot hack into or
access administrative data.
But, this is not the only concern
for hotel IT managers.
Hotel networks have open-
Wi-Fi, often with weak fi rewalls
and poor passwords used by
the guests. The only way to
combat this is for hotels to
issue guests with one-time-use
passwords when they arrive
to ensure the access is slightly
better secured. However, when
there is a large event that needs
constant Wi-Fi connections for
hundreds of guests, this can
prove diffi cult. Also, guests and
restaurant visitors expect to be
able to access the internet and
it becomes a logistic nightmare
to issue every visitor that passes
through the doors with a one-
time-password.
Unfortunately for hotel IT
managers It is also fairly easy
for an attacker to set-up a
Wi-Fi access point, called ‘Free
Wi-Fi’, near a busy hotel. The
attacker will probably not need
to wait for very long before a
hotel guest plugs-in to his Wi-Fi
connection. The attacker can
then pull data out of the air with
a network sniff er, leaving no
trace whatsoever on the victim’s
computer, or smartphone.
Security is not just the job
of the hotel, however; it is the
responsibility of the guests to
protect their asset’s data while
using it. Hotels provide a service
and it’s up to the customer to use
them with common sense and
the due protection in their own
equipment. Guests must make
sure their virus protection is up
to date and if they are accessing
sensitive information on their
device while at the hotel, for
example checking their bank
accounts, experts suggest that
guests utilise a VPN to connect.
The other problem for hotel
IT managers is that the network
must be able to handle the huge
amount of personal devices that
connect to the network during
busy periods. In a medium size
hotel, this number reaches into
the thousands during busy
periods and every device must
be able to connect and quickly
access the internet. As explained
by Prasanna Rupasinghe, director
of IT and AV at Kempinski Mall
of the Emirates, guests now
ask whether there is free Wi-Fi
before they ask if there is a free
breakfast.
This large number of devices
connecting to the network
means that bandwidth has to
be carefully managed and that
guests must be able to access
the Wi-Fi whether they are in the
bath, the bedroom or the hotel
restaurants and lobby. This puts
huge pressure on the hotel to
continually improve its network
capabilities. One wrong step and
one guest that cannot access
the internet will mean no return
business for the hotel.
GEORGINA ENZER
Editor
The hotel network nightmare
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THI I NO L PTOP
It is a victim.
www.helpag.com
T
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Research
IT spending in the Middle East
region is projected to reach
$192.9 billion in 2013, a 5.5%
increase from 2012, and far above
the global average, according to
Peter Sondergaard, senior vice
president and global head of
research at Gartner. Gartner is also
predicting accelerated investment
in the data centre for 2013 and
2014, despite a global slowdown
in investment in this area.
“In markets that are struggling
financially we are seeing a slow-
down in data centre investment,
for example in Europe, where
investment is growing far slower
compared to what we are seeing
here in the Middle East where the
growth rates are in the 6 to 7%
range,” Sondergaard told NME.
Software is the one area where
there is still an investment lag in
the Middle East region, com-
pared to the general market, this
observation is also reflected in the
Gartner 2013 CIO Survey.
“Interestingly enough, invest-
ment in ERP and application-
based environments in our survey
features very high in this region as
a focus of CIOs. It is actually num-
ber three on the list of issues that
CIOs focus on from a technology
perspective,” said Sondergaard.
According to Gartner, virtualisa-
tion is the second highest focus
area in technology for CIOs in
this region, and that is again an
indicator of the investment that is
happening over the next couple
of years in the data centre sphere
in this region.
“The main message here is that
investment is in areas that are
more base infrastructure focused
not necessarily something that
is more customer facing. ERP
based systems and data centre
still forms the major part of the
investment here as opposed
to technologies that face the
customer, that is the way we think
investment will come in a couple
of years,” said Sondergaard.
IT services are an area in which
there has been substantial invest-
ment in this region, said Gartner
“We expect more cloud-based
offerings in this region from
service providers. We think that,
these services will also put pres-
sure on margins of business for
service providers and lead to
changes,” said Sondergaard.
Large IT investment for ME in 2013: Gartner
Dell buyout hits another roadblockBusiness
Carl Icahn, a maverick inves-
tor known for his demands for
overhauls in companies’ manage-
ment, has amassed a 6% stake
in Dell Inc, complicating Michael
Dell’s campaign to take private
the company he founded in his
college dorm room.
CNBC reported last month that
Icahn is now in control of 100 mil-
lion shares of the PC manufacturer
and wants Dell to move towards a
leveraged recapitalisation.
Icahn’s stake positions him
Peter Sondergaard from
Gartner says that IT
spending in the region is
set to soar above the global
IT spending average.
CommVault releases Simpana 10ProductsCommVault has released the latest version of its data management software platform Simpana 10. The software will extend CommVault’s data protection and archiving portfolio and is designed to deliver secure, self-service access from mobile devices, speed the adoption of cloud computing and extract value from big data. According to CommVault, more than 300 new features in Simpana 10 combine to reduce risk, slash costs, reduce administrative overhead by up to 80% and lower aggregate support costs by up to 35%. CommVault also launched new enterprise consulting and professional services, educational offerings, including new predictive analytics support.
StorIT offers flexible data centre solutions TechnologyMENA data storage specialist VAD StorIT, has introduced pre-built data centre solutions bundles designed for resellers and systems integrators selling into small and medium businesses with limited IT infrastructure expertise. The bundles are built on EMC’s VSPEX infrastructure, where StorIT can configure the solutions by using a wide range of technology from major players in enterprise applications, virtualisation hypervisors, servers, storage, and networking as per the customers’ requirements. EMC VSPEX is a flexible architecture solution designed to allow IT departments to quickly and consistently deploy a virtualised infrastructure to consolidate servers, applications and desktops.
remove the company from public
scrutiny, backed by his own 16%
stake, a $1bn investment from
Silver Lake Management LLC, a
$2bn loan from Microsoft and
debt with four different lenders.
But opposition from Southeast-
ern, Icahn and other prominent
stakeholders is now likely to
prevent the deal closing at the
current offer price.
CNBC reported that Icahn had
suggested Dell acquire debt of up
to $9 billion and pay out a special
dividend to shareholders.
as the second largest outside
shareholder behind Southeastern
Asset Management, which holds
an 8.5% stake.
Southeastern was the first of
Dell’s shareholders to challenge
Michael Dell’s buyout offer of
$13.65 a share, going so far as
to write a letter to the board in
early February, claiming the price
should be closer to $24.
Since then, Dell shares have
gone up, closing at US $14.14 on
March 22nd.
Michael Dell had hoped to
5
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ResearchCIOs are having to increase their
skillset as the role of the CIO be-
comes wider and more complex
in the modern IT setting, accord-
ing to Mary Mesaglio, research
vice president with Gartner’s
CIO and Executive Leadership
research team.
According to Mesaglio, the fi rst
skill needed by the modern CIO is
the ability to allow and encourage
rapid prototyping.
“If you are a business user, you
come to me with an idea as the
CEO or head of application devel-
opment and have an emergent
concept you as the CIO should be
able to do rapid prototyping and
have something back in 48 hours,”
said Mesaglio.
The second skill is to have the
capacity to do A-B testing, Google
does a lot of this, but it has always
been really hard to do in the
physical world.
But in the digital world, CIOs
and IT managers and leaders are
not doing enough A-B testing
according to Mesaglio.
The actual extra cost of doing a
digital version and testing is really
not that great.
“If you are trying to improve
the user experience you can do
version A,B and C and, you can,
through IP address management,
see which people like best and
there is a direct feedback that
most IT departments are not tak-
ing best advantage of,” she said
The third skill is the ability to
conduct high velocity low cost
experimentation. If the action is
happening where the enterprise
meets the outside world at the
interface, then there is a massive
amount of information that the
enterprise does not know about
how customers are going to react
and interact in the digital sphere.
“High velocity low cost experi-
mentation says what I would be
asking a CIO is ‘Could your team
design an experiment for Monday,
Launch on Tuesday, get the data
on Wednesday, tweak it on Thurs-
day and relaunch on Friday. If you
can not do that kind of speed
then that would be the goal to
work up to. The biggest thing that
IT needs to get more of is increase
its speed,” said Mesaglio.
CIOs must broaden skillsets to keep up
Riverbed Stingray is on Amazon Web ServicesBusinessPerformance company Riverbed
Technology has announced that
its Stingray product family is
available through the Amazon
Web Services (AWS) Marketplace.
This is designed to allow
customers in the Middle East to
deploy an application delivery
controller (ADC) solution with
Web Content Optimisation
(WCO) and Web Application Fire-
wall (WAF) security capabilities.
These new features are an
expansion of the Stingray off er-
ing that was fi rst launched on
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
(EC2) in 2009 utilising Amazon’s
DevPay model.
“The newest generation of
online applications for retail,
gaming, and digital media need
the ability to scale up rapidly
to meet customer demand and
be able to roll out new features
on a daily or weekly basis,” said
Philippe Elie, director, Business
Operations , Europe, Middle East
and Africa at Riverbed.
“Maintaining this level of
sustained service enhancement
means that developers need to
maximise productivity and ac-
celerate release cycles. Stingray
software unleashes application
performance in the Amazon
Cloud and allows developers to
focus on building new features
and services.”
In addition, Riverbed has also
announced that it intends to
make available the Stingray Traf-
fi c Manager software with sup-
port for Amazon Virtual Private
Cloud (VPC) so that enterprise
customers can deploy highly
available applications either
within a single availability zone
or spanning a hybrid environ-
ment of availability zones and
available third-party data centres.
Mary Mesaglio from Gartner
says that modern CIOs need to have
the ability to do A-B testing,
rapid prototyping and high
velocity, low cost experimentation.
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Industry specialist Siemon has
published a summary of the TIA’s
recent decision to adopt ‘category
8’ as the name for the next gen-
eration balanced twisted-pair
cabling system currently under
development. In its Standards
Informant Blog, Siemon predicts
confusion with the ISO/IEC’s nam-
ing convention. As the Standards
Informant explains, the TIA
TR-42.7 Copper Cabling Subcom-
mittee has adopted ‘category 8’ as
the name for the cabling system
planned to support 40Gb/s trans-
mission in a 2-connector channel
over a distance shorter than 100
metres and describes transmis-
sion performance up to 2 GHz.
Traditionally, cabling categories
are supersets of each other –
meaning that a higher category
of cabling meets or exceeds all
of the electrical and mechanical
requirements of a lower category
of cabling and is also backwards
compatible with the lower
performing category. However,
category 8 is expected to have
a different deployed channel
topology says Siemon’s Standards
Informant and will not be a per-
formance superset of category 7A.
Furthermore, whilst ISO/IEC cat-
egory 7A is currently specified to
a bandwidth of 1 GHz, the nearly
finalised IEC 61076-3-104, 3rd
edition standard for category 7A
connectors, is extending category
7A performance characterisation
out to 2 GHz. This could mean two
cabling specifications specified
to 2GHz says the Standards Infor-
mant, with the TIA’s category 8
having much lower performance
than ISO/IEC’s category 7A.
The Standards Informant from
Siemon is a guide to network
cabling and data centre standards
and includes sections for ISO/IEC,
TIA and IEEE, allowing readers to
hone in on the specific standard
of most interest or to compare
data from each for an industry-
wide perspective. It publishes
the latest standards news, white
papers and technical reports, plus
also provides an ‘ask Siemon’ facil-
ity for visitors to the site.
Confusion at new TIA cable name: Siemon
80% polled want personal cloud: Gemalto Technology
Digital security experts Gemalto
has published a global survey
that showing a growth in the
consumer demand for personal
cloud services such as data back-
up and content sharing. Eighty
percent of those surveyed said
they would use cloud services if
it was provided by their mobile
operator and 60% of interested
respondents accepted the need
to pay extra for such services.
Seventy-seven percent of those
surveyed agreed that security for
their back-up solutions was vital.
“The survey depicts that there
is potential for mobile network
operators to introduce their own
cloud-based data backup and
sharing services to their sub-
scribers,” said Christelle Toureille,
Middle East and Africa marketing
director for the telecommunica-
tion division at Gemalto.
“The response from partici-
pants confirms that there is a fear
amongst mobile users of losing
valued personal content such as
contact details, and the results
show that more than half the
respondents had already suffered
Siemon has predicted that there will be confusion over the new TIA cable name.
losses at least once. This is an
untapped market.”
The personal cloud is one of the
fastest growing areas of the mo-
bile industry. Consumer aware-
ness of cloud storage is rising, and
usage is following. According to
Gartner 7% of consumer content
was stored in cloud in 2011, a
figure set to grow to 36% in 2016.
Estimates place personal cloud
accounts worldwide at over 500
million. Over 4000 global respon-
dents participated in the 2012
survey with a majority showing
interest in back up services.
Gemalto demonstrates new uses for NFCInfrastructureDigital security expert Gemalto is demonstrating a proof of concept for enterprise applications that is designed to transform mobile phones into secure and convenient identification and authentication devices for the workplace. Utilising the company’s UpTeq NFC SIM, Gemalto’s experimentation is designed to allow secure entry to buildings and provide strong authentication on PCs, laptops, IT networks and other company services. With the user’s credentials protected by smart card security, Gemalto’s UpTeq NFC SIM and embedded software support numerous industry standards for contactless access, and can extend the benefits of NFC technology beyond building access control.
Vision Solutions debuts new cloud solutionProducts
Vision Solutions, a premier
provider of replication,
availability and disaster
recovery software and ser-
vices, has launched its new
Cloud Protection & Recovery
(CP&R) offering, based on the
company’s Double-Take and
MIMIX products.
The new solution is
designed to enable cloud
service providers to acceler-
ate their cloud businesses
by offering their custom-
ers Recovery-as-a-Service
(RaaS), while taking advan-
tage of Vision Solutions’
pay-per-use pricing. Vision’s
CP&R offering also is
designed to allow IT profes-
sionals an affordable, low-
risk path to the cloud.
What problems does the hospitality industry face when managing bandwidth?Hotels are diligent about
meeting the expectations of
their guests. They cannot aff ord
to off er amenities that create
headaches for their guests
and staff , which is what often
happens when Wi-Fi/DATA
networks become overloaded.
What diffi culties are faced by the hospitality industry in network management?IT administrators are responsible
for the backbone of modern
information technology systems
which are reliant on complex
network infrastructures.
For medium to large-sized
companies there can be literally
hundreds of thousands of
devices which are mission critical
to company operations. The
server and network devices can
include many diff erent types
of hardware from a variety of
vendors, security components,
switches, routers, and other
components that make up the
infrastructure. Some of the
challenges in terms of a manual
approach to managing server
and network infrastructures
include:
Confi guration tasks
Network growth
Network security:
No centralised management
Lack of accountability
What solutions can the hospitality industry apply when managing their bandwidth and network?
Thanks to a higher availability
of solutions providers and
automated tools, bandwidth
and network management can
be simplifi ed. This leaves more
time for IT staff to focus on new
company innovations instead
of performing time consuming
and repetitive tasks. Automated
tools provide a way to keep
track of confi gurations, reduce
the possibility for human error,
improve policy compliance,
and reduce operational costs.
Additionally, many companies
choose to use a virtualisation
solutions provider that can
oversee and manage server and
network infrastructures either
onsite or from a remote location.
Most solutions providers
off er confi guration, change,
and compliance management
services. They are also equipped
with the necessary automation
tools to reduce errors and
perform audits and reports
on the status of network
confi gurations. With a quality
virtualisation solution in place
companies can make the best
use of their resources and time.
Should a hotel look at a complete automated network management solution, or is it better to have a manual approach?Both are equally important
for a fault-free network.
One of the fundamental
challenges facing network
professionals is balancing
ongoing responsibilities with
reacting to daily events. Many
spend the bulk of their time
InterviewInterview
George Linu, Business Unit manager ME & India of F1 Infotech, says hotels are diligent about maintaining the guest experience
George Linu from F1 Infotech says that hotels must deliver high
quality internet to their guests as if a guest is unhappy, they are unlikely to be repeat customers.
Managing bandwidth in the hospitality industry
8 April 2013 Vol.19 No 04
putting out fi res or responding
to unanticipated business
requirements — often at the
expense of dealing with the
routine “care and feeding” of
network operations. A new
generation of automated
network-management software
and services is helping in-house
staff address this challenge.
These let network professionals
establish regular patch-
management procedures to
safeguard against escalating
security threats; and create
system-monitoring routines to
identify load imbalances, which
could cause service disruptions
or performance problems. They
also discover, inventory and
track assets to make sure that
hardware and software licenses
are up-to-date and that problems
can be resolved faster.
What are the worst case scenarios for hotels that do not manage their networks or bandwidth correctly?Network has become critical to
the daily lives of so many guests
that being unable to get online
eff ectively can nullify all other
eff orts by the hotel to provide
a positive experience. This can
1. Watch for any performance changes that could
indicate imminent hardware failure
2. Highlight unexpected connections that then can be
verifi ed and then authorised if appropriate.
3. Confi rm that backups have been successfully
completed and take action if they have not.
4. Review/process all systems and technology requests in
order to provide the most effi cient service.
5. Upgrade equipment, hardware and software, where
necessary, to ensure all systems are kept up-to-date with
published standards and recommendations.
Top 5 tips for maintaining an available network
have a negative eff ect on the
hotel as well as the guest, as a
disgruntled guest is unlikely to
become a repeat customer.
What are the minimum steps a hotel should take to ensure connectivity for their guests and staff ?
When each hotel guest has at least two or three devices connected to the network, the
result is oversubscription failures in high density areas which in turn cause hot and
cold connectivity issues.
Hotels need an infrastructure
that can adapt and address
challenges to meet customer
expectations and improve
the guest experience, while
providing a highly mobile and
fl exible environment. As a
result, a growing number of
hotels are relying on WLAN to
provide staff communications
and 24/7 connectivity for guests
and staff .
With strong network
connectivity, employees are
able to communicate with
one another and interact with
customers in real-time to
provide a personalised customer
experience. Guest requests and
needs will be met in a timelier
manner, and hotels are also able
to collect data and learn about
their guests’ preferences when
choosing a hotel.
Have your property analysed
for potential “dead zones” for
your staff ’s communications
network. The solution could
be as simple as installing more
or stronger access points to
increase the range of your
network. By doing so, you can
ensure seamless communications
throughout every square foot of
your property.
A dynamic, reliable network
can be the key diff erentiator
in a guest’s choice of where
to stay and can set up your
property to be ready for the next
improvements in technology and
access. Ensure physical condition
of network equipment is within
range and not a cause of failure,
and avoid unplanned network
downtime.
With the personal device boom, with each person having at least two connected devices, what kind of burden does this place on a hotel network, particularly during peak seasons?When each user has at least
two or three devices connected
instead of a single laptop,
the result is oversubscription
failures in high density areas
which in turn cause hot and cold
connectivity issues. Physical
network equipment too gets
bogged down with high Mb
traffi c and also saturates internet
connections. Ever increasing
amounts of traffi c – which now
includes a larger percentage
of video traffi c – over hotel
networks, contributes to a poor
guest experience and new levels
of guest dissatisfaction.
10 April 2013 Vol.19 No 04
Hotels – Fall easy prey to wireless hacks!
Restaurants have long
been of interest to
hackers in search of
making a quick buck,
however, in the last year we have
noticed that hackers are show-
ing an increasing interest in the
hospitality industry. Figures show
that hotels and resorts account
for at least 40% of the breaches,
which can include anything from
intellectual property theft to loss
of financial data. This new shift in
focus to the hospitality industry
shows a more targeted approach
rather than just focusing on op-
portunistic and random attacks.
Take Marriot International Inc
for example, the hotel incurred a
total loss of $1 million in salaries
and other expenses due to a
breach by cyber-criminals. The
root cause for the data leak was
the installation of two remotely
controlled Trojans, which allowed
access to other connected
systems within the network. Both
Trojans were remotely installed
after getting a handful of Marriot
employees to click on infected
email attachments.
Restaurants and related
businesses remain popular
targets with the food and
beverage industry, accounting for
15% of data breaches. A method
most commonly used in hotel/
resort data breaches is the use
of remote-access application
attacks. Such attacks exploit web
channels created by internal or
external IT staffs/specialists. Such
systems are lightly defended
from external attacks and come
with either no password or
feature common/easy to guess
passwords. Other frequently
used attack methods include
SQL injection, MITM (Man-in-the-
Middle) based attacks.
Threats not only damage
files and computers by acting
as viral agents, but also impose
productivity losses, wasting
disk space, time and financial
resources. Ironically, even as
certain methods to guard content
security have evolved, threats
Govind Rammurthy, managing director & CEO, eScan says that hotels are increasingly becoming targets of malicious attacks by cyber-criminals
Govind Rammurthy from eScan says that the Marriot group
lost approximately $1 million to hackers.
April
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to security have become more
severe, even causing destruction
of data. However, the systems
employed to detect these threats
are still handicapped by several
deficiencies. The ‘cure’ that is
provided by some products only
scans data after it is saved on
the hard disk; by which time the
damage is already done.
The ‘MicroWorld-WinSock
Layer’ (MWL) is a revolutionary
concept in scanning internet
traffic on a real-time basis. This
new concept has changed the
manner in which content security
threats are tackled.
Some of the hospitality groups
currently protected by eScan
in UAE are Capitol Hotel group,
Broadway Hotel, Dusit Residence
Dubai Marina, Grandeur Hotel,
Majestic Hotel, Arabian Courtyard
Hotel and Spa.
“Restaurants and related businesses remain popular targets with the food and beverage industry, accounting for 15% of data breaches.”
Connect to More
Business Solutions
Connect to More
D-Link’s Switching, Wireless, Security, IP Surveillance and Storage Solutions deliver best-in-class performance and extreme value to small and mid-sized businesses, schools, hospitals, government agencies, retail chains and a variety of other organizations around the globe.
www.dlinkmea.com
facebook.com/dlinkmea [email protected]
+971 4 880 9022
The four steps to IT consolidation nirvana
Tell your spouse that
you’d like to consolidate
your neatly organised
home storage to a single
closet and the idea may be met
with a startled face twisted into
a smirk. Why would you want to
destabilise the status quo if what
you have is adequate?
Similarly, broader IT
consolidation initiatives in
enterprises are often met
with skepticism because of
complexity, distance and
latency, and the constraints of
traditional IT organisational silos.
And if things go awry, IT is in
the hot seat to fix the problem
and potentially backtrack on
the project as executives and
end users shake their heads in
disappointment.
But progressive organisations
are exploring ways to use
the latest virtualisation
technologies to move beyond
server consolidation to deliver
an efficient data centre
infrastructure and expand
the benefits of consolidation
enterprise-wide. The benefits
of a well planned and executed
consolidation approach can
not only save money, but also
mitigate risk while boosting
efficiency and business agility.
The path starts with adopting
advanced consolidation
strategies that build upon a
Philippe Elie, director, Business Operations EMEA, Riverbed explains consilidation
Philippe Elie from Riverbed says that broader IT consolidation initiatives in enterprises are often met with skepticism because of complexity, distance and latency.
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foundation of basic server
virtualisation, deepen the use
of virtualisation, and extend
consolidation across the
enterprise.
It goes without saying that
any consolidation strategy
requires careful analysis and
planning before execution.
The strategies below all involve
the data centre, which has
been the focus of much recent
investment, and serves as the
April 2013 Vol.19 No.04 15
bastion of cost-efficiency and
control for IT branch offices.
CONSOLIDATE DATA CENTRESReturning to the closet analogy,
wouldn’t it be great to store
all of your tax documents,
family pictures, and textbooks
in a single closet? Imagine
how easy and quick it would
be to find your tax return in
neatly organised and properly
labeled drawers? The benefits
of having such a “dream” closet
at home are similar to having a
consolidated data centre in the
IT world, where IT is completely
centralised.
The big question is how to
eliminate data centres without
impeding performance and the
productivity of employees. The
first step is to analyse and plan
with application performance
baselines and dependency
maps to reduce the risk and to
brace for challenges, such as
migrating data and applications
so that there is no interruption
to the business. With selected
data centres outfitted to assume
greater load and remaining data
centres scheduled for closures,
you must replicate applications
to the surviving data centres and
then transition users to the new
host. You can use application
delivery controllers (ADCs) to
redirect users between facilities
and increase the ongoing
reliability and performance
of those applications. ADCs
have global and local load
balancing capabilities that
allow you to shift application
resources between locations,
manage and upgrade underlying
infrastructure, and distribute
application load between
multiple servers and data
centres, all without disrupting
end-user access to applications.
The remaining data centres
will have to support more users
from further locations, so you
may think that more bandwidth
is required to support the
increased traffic over the WAN.
However, that may not be the
silver bullet — and in many
cases is not necessary. Latency
combined with application
protocol inefficiencies is the
real culprit that bottlenecks
WANs. By implementing a WAN
optimisation solution between
the remaining data centres and
field offices before migrating
applications, you can accelerate
the migration of data and
applications to the new location,
as well as ensure that end
users continue to experience
consistent levels of performance.
VIRTUALISE APPLICATION DELIVERYDoes the idea of a fully
virtualised, highly automated,
and highly efficient
concentration of computing
resources appeal to you? Then
consider how the architecture
underpinning the applications
hosted in your data centres can
be structured to realise this
vision. Server virtualisation,
storage provisioning, and
deduplication technologies can
drive greater efficiency from
infrastructure investments,
but they are largely agnostic
to applications. That means
applications remain resource
inefficient. Spikes in user
requests can cause many
mission-critical application
servers to become unstable
and fail. ADCs can improve
the resource utilisation of
an application by offloading
compute-intensive functions,
like compression, SSL
decryption, and content caching.
Virtual and software ADCs take
it a step further to help with
scaling and improving the end
user performance of applications
that become more distributed
and virtualised. They can be
deployed on demand anywhere,
anytime, on any platform,
physical, virtual, or in the cloud,
and can be managed centrally.
This gives you more choice and
more flexibility on how and
where to deploy ADC resources,
which means more control over
your virtualisation projects.
CENTRALISE INFRASTRUCTUREWhatever the reason, application
infrastructure has found its
way into makeshift server
closets and micro-data centres
in branch offices at many
organisations. Address this
complexity and improve security
and data protection practices
by centralising application
infrastructure. Doing so will let
you take advantage of even
greater cost efficiencies at data
centres, where virtualisation
and automation have maximum
impact. But note, relocating
an application requires the
same planning and analysis
as eliminating an entire data
centre, as well as factoring new
or increased dependency on
the WAN. This means adjusting
for the impact of distance
between the central data
centre and distributed end
users. Fortunately, you can use
WAN optimisation solutions
to accelerate applications for
users in branch offices or remote
locations, edge virtual server
infrastructure (edge-VSI) to
consolidate your branch office
storage to the data centre, and
quality of service (QoS) to finely
control the mix of application
traffic across the WAN and make
better use of scarce network
resources.
MINIMISE BRANCH ITLocal print, DNS, and DHCP
servers are “edge” services
that defy many infrastructure
centralisation efforts.
Such services can still benefit
from innovations like server
virtualisation. Leading WAN
optimisation solutions now
allow organisations to run these
services on their appliances,
so you can eliminate these
redundant branch servers
to further reduce hardware,
software, maintenance costs,
and complexity.
It also helps to have an
application-aware network
performance management
solution in place to passively
collect network performance
data and capture packet details
from existing infrastructure,
such as routers and even WAN
optimisation appliances.
This provides the visibility you
need into branch traffic without
introducing additional hardware
or taxing the network. After all,
you cannot control what you
cannot see.
Consolidation projects have
moved beyond beginner tactics.
But the goals of advanced
consolidation strategies remain
largely the same – greater
efficiency and the opportunity
to streamline and automate IT
processes.
Implementing the four
strategies discussed can help
you realise a trinity of benefits:
users in the branch get the
performance they require, IT
maintains total control, and the
business enjoys a high return on
IT investment.
As for a winning formula for
consolidating your home storage
without peeving your spouse…
we’ll have to get back to you.
XLatency combined with application protocol
inefficiencies is the real culprit that bottlenecks WANs.
Rack security and protection
Security ranks highly on
any data centre man-
ager’s list of priorities and
it’s not difficult to under-
stand why, especially when you
consider the devastating impact
that downtime or data theft can
have on a business.
RISKY BUSINESSWith any data network there is
always a risk that the information
that flows through it could
be intercepted and used for
malicious purposes. However,
there are a number of security
processes that can significantly
reduce the likelihood of this
happening, including the physical
and organisational security of the
core network.
What was once a
straightforward steel structure is
now a sophisticated device that is
the critical element in delivering
the needs of today’s advanced
data centres.
Therefore, an integrated
security approach at the cabinet
and rack level is hugely important
for enterprises and, as a growing
number of organisations are
finding out, not only must they
secure these infrastructure
components, they must be able
to prove the efficacy of their
auditing systems to one or more
governance bodies.
COMPLIANCE PROCEDUREFor companies that have to
comply with legislation such as
Sarbanes-Oxley, Basel II, PCI-DSS
and the FSA, their data centres
must adhere to strict asset
documentation, configuration
and change management, as
well as rigorous and transparent
documentation policies. In
co-location facilities high levels
of security are also required in
order to comply with service level
agreements as any data breach
can prove costly both financially
and in terms of reputation
— something that could be
impossible to recover from.
In the financial sector data
As well as housing a plethora of important active equipment, cabinets and racks also need to protect the sensitive data contained within them. Mark Hirst, T4 product manager at Cannon Technologies explains why sophisticated security, access control and monitoring technology is an essential component of any modern containment solution.
In unmanned environments it
is necessary to be able to remotely
monitor and control access to
hardware.
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protection and corporate
responsibility legislation is
extremely stringent and even
states that a company’s head
office and corporate data
centre must be sited in separate
locations. With such rigorous
security requirements it is this
industry that is setting the
benchmark for how access control
and monitoring technology is
being deployed.
MANY AND VARIED While having a permanent
manned security presence
at a data centre is not at all
uncommon, it usually forms part
of a multi-layered approach which
April 2013 Vol.19 No 04 17
includes a range of technology
that monitors and controls
access both into and within
the premises. When it comes to
restricting access to data, securing
the cabinets and racks that
house servers and other active
equipment is crucial. There are a
number of ways that this can be
achieved, and perhaps the most
obvious is the use of reliable and
intelligent locking systems.
Modern locking systems such
as swinghandles are highly
secure, robust, ergonomic and
can be retrofitted. However, to
add another layer of protection
they can be fitted with an
electronic keypad that simply
screws to the back of the standard
swinghandle, converting it into
a remote access solution. The
tamper proof cabling to the lock
itself can also be routed through
the internal door skin to hide it
from view and further increase
security.
The locking system will
usually be used in conjunction
with a personal identification
number (PIN) or radio frequency
identification (RFID) device.
When it comes to room, row
or cold aisle entry, one reader
device may open all the locks in
the cabinets in a particular row
if required, while locks can also
be unlocked in groups or by user
privilege settings. The availability
of intelligent access control also
means that PINs can be issued
that expire after a certain period
of time and can only be used to
gain access to specific cabinets.
REMOTE CONTROLIn unmanned environments
it is necessary to be able to
remotely monitor and control
access to hardware. Software is
now available that provides local
and/or remote control of racks,
cabinets, hot and cold aisles,
cages, data rooms or outside
enclosures. Based on ‘plug and
play’ modules that can be used
stand alone or daisy chained
together into a high security,
resilient system, this technology
enables remote control from
multiple locations concurrently,
with full event recording and a
rolling 24 hour audit trail.
This also ensures only
authorised personnel can access
the cabinets following a request
and authorisation from a central
source, which can additionally
carry out access code changes
remotely. They can also be
configured so that they require
two people – for instance,
a technician and a security
operative – to go through an
authentication process before
the cabinet will unlock. When in,
CCTV cameras can be triggered
to record the access session or a
simple photograph taken of the
person(s) involved. Again, with
these systems a full audit trail,
including the video footage if it
is taken, is then stored in case it is
needed for future reference.
Alarms can be generated if
unauthorised entry is attempted
or an unusual condition or
problem is detected, such as
if humidity levels within the
facility rises above a pre-defined
threshold. This allows designated
staff to carry out an investigation
that complies with any regulation.
FINGER ON THE PULSEAn increasingly popular way of
ensuring that only authorised
personnel have access to
cabinets is by using biometric
technologies. These automatically
measure people’s physiological
or behavioural characteristics
and examples include automatic
fingerprint identification, iris and
retina scanning, face recognition
and hand geometry. The major
advantage that this type of
solution has over PINs or RFID
cards is that it cannot be lost,
transferred or stolen and is
completely unique.
Although previously considered
too expensive for most data
centre based installations, the
falling costs of technology over
the last few years has meant that
fingerprint security at the cabinet
level has become a cost effective
reality — one that is becoming
more and more popular.
The time taken to verify a
fingerprint at the scanner is
now down to a second. This is
because the templates – which
can be updated / polled to /
from a centralised server on a
regular basis — are maintained
locally, and the verification
process can take place whether
or not a network connection is
present. The enrolment process is
similarly enhanced with a typical
enrol involving three sample
fingerprints being taken on a
terminal, with the user then able
to authenticate themselves from
that point onwards.
This level of efficiency, cost
effectiveness and all round
reliability of fingerprint security
means that a growing number of
clients are now securing their IT
resources at the cabinet level and
integrating the data feed from the
scanner to other forms of security
such as video surveillance.
SEEING IS BELIEVINGIn the event of a security breach,
being able to identify the
person(s) attempting to gain
unauthorised access to a cabinet
is extremely useful in bringing
them to book. Fortunately, there
are a number of tools that can
help to achieve this.
Cabinets can have a video
recording system installed that
can either record constantly or
be activated in the event of an
access attempt. The system will
send the data centre manager an
email containing a still image of
the person trying to gain access.
That person can then remotely
access the video system and
watch events unfold and, when
an audio device is also used, the
unauthorised person can be
addressed verbally. State-of-the-
art systems also allow recording
devices from eight cabinets to
use one network video recorder,
which also makes this method of
monitoring cost effective.
The use of video is a tried
and tested way of tracking
movements in a facility and
establishing who was doing what
at a particular time. Although this
comes with its own independent
remote software package, it
can also be incorporated into
a data centre infrastructure
management system. Not only
can this be used to monitor,
control access and designate
user privileges, it can manage
elements such as power usage
and optimisation, environmental
control and fire suppression
systems with one single suite of
dedicated software. Some leading
solutions secure password and
role permissions on users to
ensure the remote systems are as
secure as the sites.
UNDER THREATThe threat of data theft and
damage to equipment must
be taken seriously – those that
fail to implement a thorough
multi-layered system run the risk
of damaging their businesses
and reputations. Rather than
just being seen as metal boxes,
cabinets and racks are in fact at
the front line in keeping data safe.
An increasingly popular way of ensuring that only authorised personnel have access to cabinets is by using biometric technologies. such as fingerprint readers
“What was once a straightforward steel structure is now a sophisticated device that is the critical element in delivering the needs of today’s advanced data centres” MARK HIRST, T4 PRODUCT MANAGER AT CANNON TECHNOLOGIES
April 2013 Vol.19 No 04 19
Vendor profile: Interactive Intelligence
HOW DID INTERACTIVE INTEL-LIGENCE START AND WHAT IS ITS HISTORY TO DATE? Interactive Intelligence was
founded in 1994 and has more
than 5,000 customers worldwide.
It employs approximately 1,400
people and is headquartered
in Indianapolis, Indiana. The
company has offices throughout
North America, Latin America,
Europe, Middle East, Africa and
Asia Pacific.
Interactive Intelligence continues
to expand both its global and
vertical presence, which includes
the following key acquisitions:
- document
management solutions for the
insurance industry
(debt collection software and
services)
(Germany-based Interactive
Intelligence reseller)
(Australia/New Sealand-based
Interactive Intelligence reseller)
(South Africa/
Sub-Saharan Africa-based
Interactive Intelligence reseller)
(Netherlands-based Interactive
Intelligence reseller)
(Maryland-
based provider of contact
centre forecasting, capacity
planning and strategic analysis
technology)
Interactive Intelligence sells
its award-winning solutions
through a global network of
350-plus vale-added resellers.
In addition to a mature and
expansive reseller channel,
Interactive Intelligence also
offers a wide range of services
via its Global Services teams
(Support, Managed Services,
Professional Services and
Education) with more than 330
service employees worldwide.
Business communication software experts Interactive Intelligence discuss their regional goals and successes as well as their products
Shaheen Haque, territory
manager, Middle East
& Turkey at Interactive
Intelligence says that Saudi
Arabia is becoming one of
the key growth countries for
Interactive Intelligence.
WHAT DOES INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE DO? Interactive Intelligence is a
global provider of business
communications software
and services for contact
centre automation, unified
communications, and business
process automation. The
company has developed an
all-in-one IP communications
software suite that’s scalable
and standards-based, offering
single platform architecture
with inherent multichannel
processing to deliver
comprehensive applications
minus the cost and complexity
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20 April 2013 Vol.19 No 04
introduced by multi-point
vendors. The Interactive
Intelligence product line is
ideal for mid to large-sised
contact centres and businesses,
global 1,000 organisations and
distributed enterprises, including
those with remote and mobile
workers.
Vertical specialties include
financial services, outsourcer/
teleservices firms, insurance
companies, credit and collection
agencies, and utilities.
The Interaction Centre
Platform is the foundation on
which all Interactive Intelligence
products are based. This solution
centralises business interactions
including phone calls, e-mail,
faxes and web chats/callbacks as
well as business processes.
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION?Interactive Intelligence’s Middle
East regional office is in Dubai
Internet City in Dubai, UAE and
from here we service the whole of
the Middle East, Turkey, Pakistan,
and Northern Africa.
We also have an office and
increasing presence in Riyadh,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as
this is becoming one of the key
countries for our regional growth.
In the Middle East Interactive
Intelligence has a predominately
channel driven approach and
we have a strong certified
partner base across the region.
Interactive Intelligence makes it
a point to have a high degree of
involvement with the channel.
We employ a ‘direct touch’ sales
approach with end-users and
work on opportunities alongside
our partners, as this helps build
the confidence of clients and
allows a significant push of our
industry innovations.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE SOME OF YOUR REGIONAL SUCCESSES?
The Middle East contributes
significantly to Interactive
Intelligence and our strategic
global growth plans.
During our tenure in the region,
we have managed to secure a
number of prestigious projects
involving well-known clients such
as Saudi Aramco, Saudi Hollandi
Bank, Dubai Municipality, MetLife
Alico, Muscat Municipality,
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange
and Abu Dhabi Chamber of
Commerce and Industry to name
a few. Interactive Intelligence is
making leaps and bounds within
the Contact Centre/Unified
Communications market in the
Middle East, and we are expecting
tremendous growth as we
move forward in the region. The
following Middle East initiatives
were carried out within the 2012:
Launched our flagship version
Customer Communications
Centre 4.0 upgrade with full
Arabic language support. This
bi-lingual support is a vital
selling point in the region as it
is not natively offered by most
vendors
Interactive Intelligence
executed over 20 customer
workshops during the last year
across the region
Presence at industry events such
as Gitex, IDC, MECC, etc. to drive
awareness/engagements across
regions such as Saudi, UAE,
Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq
Increased end user
engagement, year on year.
WHAT ARE YOUR REGIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES? Our objective for the Middle
East market is to increase our
dominance and become one
of the key players within the
contact centre and unified
communications market space as
well as comntinuing to promote
our unique Interaction Process
Automation solution stream.
Year on year we have increased
our headcount in the region and
we anticipate continued strong
growth through 2014 in the
Middle East.
We will continue to invest in
the region as well as in growing
and expanding our channel base.
We plan to expand our partner
briefing sessions/events in order
to facilitate advanced showcasing
of our complete product portfolio
as well as to increase customer
engagements alongside our
certified partners within the
Middle East region.
Interactive intelligence is planning to become one of the key players
within the Contact Centre and Unified Communications market space in the Middle East region.
2007: Offices open in Dubai as the hub for the Middle East
2008: Participated in MECC Middle East Call Centre Conference
(MECC) and generate awareness about our product range and
attract channel partners
2009 Participated MECOM event in Abu Dhabi
2010 Certified over 10 partners across the region
2011 Opened offices in Riyadh, KSA
2012 Expanded KSA team
2013 Participated in the Gartner Symposium Dubai Event
Interactive Intelligence Middle East presence timeline
WHAT IS THE COMPUTER HACKING FORENSIC INVESTIGATOR (CHFI) V8 (FAST TRACK) COURSE?CHFI V8 programme off ers a
detailed methodical approach
to computer forensics, evidence
gathering and analysis.
The course enables IT security
professionals to identify a
malicious intruder’s footprints
so that ample evidence can
be gathered to prosecute the
cyber criminal in a court of law.
This course covers all major
forensic scenarios such as mobile
forensics, network forensics,
application password crack,
investigating logs and network
traffi c, investigating web attacks
and so on.
The CHFI V8 training
programme is designed to give
practical exposure to students so
they gain profi ciency in applying
the tools and techniques of
computer forensics.
WHAT BENEFITS DOES THE COURSE GIVE THE STUDENT IN THE EMPLOYMENT MARKET?Modern day corporate battles
are being fought more and
more in the cyberspace
rather than in enterprise
boardrooms. Increased reliance
on information technology
has made us all prone to
cyber attacks. Organisations
can’t aff ord to lose critical
business information or get
their trade secrets revealed.
So the employment market is
wide open for those who know
how to detect hacking attacks
and extract crucial evidence to
report the crime, and possess
the ability to conduct audits to
prevent corporate espionage.
The industry is constantly
looking for computer forensic
investigators who can also
protect their organisations from
future attacks.
IS IT AN ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATION FOR IT SECURITY PROFESSIONALS?Yes, because as a computer
forensic expert one can
play a very important role
in government and private
agencies in resolving cyber
crimes such as gathering
evidence, tracking attacker’s
information and proactively
controlling similar future attacks.
Companies are, therefore,
actively looking for certifi ed
professionals having in-depth
knowledge of a technology
verifi ed by the creator of that
technology. A CHFI certifi cation
is a must if you want to climb up
the corporate ladder in the IT
security domain.
Many organisations give
preference to certifi ed experts
when it comes to hiring people
to maintain the information
security of their business.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND THE COURSE?The CHFI V8 course is highly
recommended and benefi cial
for network administrators,
system administrators and
security professionals, legal
professionals, bankers and
defence personnel, IT managers,
government offi cials or anyone
who is concerned about integrity
of their network infrastructure.
You can take a Knowledge Level
Test from Koenig Solutions to
evaluate your aptitude for this
CHFI programme by getting in
touch with us on our website:
www.koenig-solutions.com
WHAT KIND OF KNOWLEDGE BASE DO STUDENTS NEED TO HAVE ALREADY BEFORE ATTENDING THE COURSE?Before enrolling for the CHFI V8
training programme, it is strongly
recommended that you have
22
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Trai
ning
focu
s
Catching the digital intruderCHFI V8 course by Koenig Solutions teaches security professionals how to identify security breaches
completed the CEH certifi cation.
Good understanding of TCP/
IP is also required. One year
experience in managing
Windows/Linux/Unix systems or
equivalent knowledge of these
operating systems is also vital
in understanding the concepts
taught in the CHFI V8 fast track
training programme.
HOW MUCH DOES THE COURSE COST?The CHFI Fast track six-day
training programme costs $1690.
WHAT DATES ARE THE NEXT TRAINING COURSES AND WHERE ARE THEY HELD?The next batch of courses for
CHFI commences on the 16th of
April, 2013.
The monthly training calendar
for CHFI and other courses
off ered by Koenig can be found
at www.koenig-dubai.com
HOW DOES THE COMPUTER HACKING
FORENSIC INVESTIGATOR (CHFI) V8 (FAST
TRACK) COURSE IMPROVE/ENHANCE A
STUDENT’S CAREER?
A career in information technology security, as a
forensic computer investigator is both stimulating
and rewarding. Computer forensics is a diverse
fi eld which is not limited to criminal cases, as it
also plays a crucial role in the outcome of many
civil lawsuits. Computer forensics professionals
now have many job opportunities in both public
and private sectors. As the technology is getting
more advanced day by day, and computers and
digital data are infl uencing various aspects of our
lives (which includes crimes and civil disputes) -
computer forensics is rising to become a lucrative
career option.
WHAT ARE THE MOST CHALLENGING PARTS
OF THE COURSE?
The most challenging part of the CHFI program
is to understand diff erent practices of computer
forensics investigation, and gather valuable
evidence from a number of sources such as
computers, network devices & mobile devices.
Another tough aspect of taking up CHFI is to
understand threats and attacks from various
sources present in the organisation.
WHAT IS THE DEMAND FOR THE COURSE
LIKE IN THE REGION?
Computer forensics is a growing industry.
Job opportunities within the industry are
expected to grow signifi cantly as society is using
computers more and more for everyday business.
Currently, those who go to work for public and
governmental agencies can expect to earn around
$30,000 to $50,000 per year. If you enjoy problem
solving and investigation, and you are skilled not
only in using a computer but also in digging deep
into computer systems, digital forensics may be
the perfect career path for you.
WHAT STANDARD OF KNOWLEDGE
DO STUDENTS NEED TO TAKE PART
IN THIS COURSE?
The student must have the knowledge of
computer networking, computer and network
security, should be aware about latest threats and
attacks plaguing the online world. A fairly good
knowledge about TCP/IP and Windows/Linux/
Unix operating systems would also help students
to grasp the technicalities of CHFI course.
DO IT SECURITY PROFESSIONALS IN THE
REGION GENERALLY HAVE THE NECESSARY
UP-TO-DATE QUALIFICATIONS?
IT Security is a relatively new fi eld as compared
to age long IT. Aspirants are now focused on
gaining right the qualifi cation in IT Security, while
organisations are also actively seeking qualifi ed
professionals in this fi eld. Today many people
possess the right qualifi cations, but the demand is
increasing, creating a large vacuum.
Rahul Kokcha, training manager Koenig Solutions discusses the career benefi ts the course off ers
Aditya Girish from Koenig
Solutions says that the CHFI
V8 course is essential for IT
professionals.
The course teacher’s perspective
Rahul Kokcha says that the hardest
part of the course is understanding
the threat vectors and attacks.
Royal Caribbean safeguards the guest experience on 34 ships with proactive IT management Company installs fully functioning independent datacentres to ensure guest remain connected through out the entire cruise experience
Cas
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PROVIDING THE ULTIMATE CRUISE EXPERIENCERoyal Caribbean Cruises Ltd
(Royal Caribbean) is the world’s
second largest cruise company
with 40 ships currently in service.
Its ships are the largest in the
world with the Oasis-class vessels
weighing 225,000 tons and carry-
ing 6,000 guests.
The company’s cruises take
in more than 260 destinations –
from Australia and Alaska to Brazil
and Bermuda.
Royal Caribbean Cruises ships
are renowned for their onboard
amenities, which include a
rock-climbing wall, ice-skating
rink, aquapark and boxing ring.
Headquartered in Miami, Florida,
“Thanks to the CA Technologies solutions, technology has become a greater enabler for improving the customer experience and boosting our competitive edge.”Bill Martin, chief information officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises.
the company controls more than
a quarter of the world cruise
market and operates a number of
lines, including Royal Caribbean
International, Celebrity Cruises,
Asamara Club Cruises, Pullmantur
and CDF Croisieres de France, as
well as TUI Cruises through a 50
percent joint venture with TUI AG.
Its vision is to empower and
enable its employees to deliver
the best vacation experience to
guests, thereby generating supe-
rior returns for shareholders and
enhancing the well-being of local
communities.
THE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGETechnology plays an increas-
ingly important role in deliver-
ing an exceptional experience
for guests. From interactive
screens that provide ship maps
and restaurant menus to facial
recognition software that helps
guests find their photos, the
innovative use of IT provides
Royal Caribbean Cruises with a
competitive advantage. Royal
Caribbean Cruises not only
uses IT to enhance the onboard
experience for guests, but also
to improve safety. For example,
children under the age of 12 are
issued wristbands that enable
parents to track their location on
the ship at any given moment via
an iPhone application.
“Our investment in technology
has increased dramatically. We
Royal Caribbean also uses CA Client
Automation to track networked assets
and deploy software upgrades remotely
to minimise the need for IT staff to travel
around the ship and ensure devices remain
continuously available.
April 2013 Vol.19 No.04 25
As ships can only connect back to shore
via satellite - which is very expensive and
slow - all vessels also have fully functioning
independent data centres.
no longer talk about technology
but about the business services
that we want to provide – and the
speed at which we can provide
them,” said Bill Martin, chief
information officer for Royal
Caribbean Cruises.
NEW APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES AT SEA
The ability to deliver new appli-
cations and services to guests in
a short time frame is both a chal-
lenge and a differentiator. Royal
Caribbean has a number of legacy
systems, which can slow down
innovation and prevent it from
meeting customer expectations.
“The consumerisation of tech-
nology means that our guests
have increasingly high expecta-
tions. They want to be able to
connect to the internet wirelessly
from their smartphones, tablets,
laptops and games consoles the
second they board the ship and
access a range of applications,”
said Martin.
One guest will invariably
have multiple devices, which
means more traffic traversing
the network. To support wireless
connectivity for these devices, as
well as on-board entertainment
and telephony systems, Royal
Caribbean’s newer ships include
fully converged networks.
“Once you go digital and run
everything over IP, you need to
have the right monitoring tools in
place so you predict and resolve
problems before they even hap-
pen,” said Martin.
As ships can only connect back
to shore via satellite - which is
very expensive and slow - all ves-
sels also have fully functioning
independent data centres.
“We have dual facilities in dif-
ferent fire zones on each ship to
ensure that all critical applica-
tions remain highly available,”
said Martin. “Due to restricted
space onboard, we have heavily
virtualised and consolidated the
server environment to minimise
hardware footprint.”
To simplify IT management both
on shore and onboard its ships,
Royal Caribbean uses a range of
CA Technologies solutions.
“CA Technologies has been a
key partner for many years and
will remain so as we update our
legacy systems to newer plat-
forms,” Martin says.
CA technologies implemented
CA Application Performance
Management (APM), CA
Spectrum, Virtual Assurance
for Infrastructure Managers, CA
Client Automation, CA Clarity
PPM (Project & Portfolio Manager)
on the Royal Caribbean Cruises
fleet to improve its IT infrastruc-
ture. CA APM helps the company
safeguard the availability of its
online applications and simplifies
the development of new systems.
“We have introduced about 40
new applications on our largest
class of vessel. CA APM helps us
identify and resolve potential
performance issues both during
development and production.
We can therefore apply a resolu-
tion before the problem causes
downtime and disruption for
guests,” Martin explains.
The solution is used alongside
CA Spectrum and CA Virtual
Assurance for Infrastructure
Managers, which help Royal
Caribbean manage its on-board
network and data centre devices.
“Our largest ships feature more
than 30,000 IP ports and up to 70
production virtual servers. Using
the CA Technologies solutions
we can monitor these devices
across multiple platforms via
user-friendly dashboards that
“The consumerisation of technology means that our guests have increasingly high expectations.”Bill Martin, chief information officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises.
As a hospitality company and
not a technology-focused organ-
isation, Royal Caribbean needs
to ensure it can support all these
technologies without requiring
numerous highly skilled experts
onboard each ship.
“The ability to manage increas-
ingly complex IT infrastructures
with as few resources as possible
is vital to our ability to exploit new
technologies that improve the
guest experience,” Martin said.
AUTOMATED & INTEGRATED IT MANAGEMENT AT SEA
Industry: Hospitality
Company: Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd.
Employees: 58,000
Revenue: $6.7 billion
Royal Caribbean
There are 30,000 network
ports on the largest
ships monitored by CA
Technologies solutions
Fast fact
The ability to deliver new applications
and services to guests in a short
timeframe is both a challenge and a
differentiator says Martin.
26 April 2013 Vol.19 No.04
and ensure devices remain
continuously available. With a
massive IT programme involv-
ing the modernisation of legacy
applications planned for the
next 12 to 18 months, CA Clarity
Project & Portfolio Manager is
also an important tool for Royal
Caribbean Cruises.
“Our project portfolio has
doubled in size over the last year,
and CA Clarity Project & Portfolio
Manager plays a vital role in help-
“We no longer talk about technology but about the business services that we want to provide.”Bill Martin, chief information officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises.
BusinessRoyal Caribbean Cruises Ltd boasts some of the largest ships in the
world. Its 34 cruise ships take guests to more than 260 destinations
and provide innovative onboard amenities, such as ice-skating
and rock climbing.
ChallengeTechnology touches every element of the cruise experience. With
on-board data centres and IP networks underpinning an array of
guest services, Royal Caribbean must minimise IT downtime and
quickly provision new applications.
SolutionThe company uses a number of CA Technologies solutions to
monitor and manage thousands of devices and applications. The
solutions pinpoint potential problems, enable root cause analysis
and support application development.
BenefitRoyal Caribbean can safeguard IT availability with fewer resources
and at a lower cost. It can also facilitate innovation to improve the
guest experience and boost competitive advantage.
Case study summary
instantly alert us to any issues
and enable us to drill down to
identify the root cause of the
problem,” said Martin.
THE SOLUTION
Royal Caribbean Cruises also uses
CA Client Automation to track
networked assets and deploy
software upgrades remotely
to minimise the need for its IT
staff to travel around the ship
ing us manage these projects in
an efficient and effective manner,”
says Martin.
As well as modernising its ship
systems, Royal Caribbean Cruises
has plans to leverage private cloud
environments and desktop virtu-
alisation as part of its shore-side
IT infrastructure, which supports
approximately 6,000 members of
its staff.
Using CA Technologies solutions
enables Royal Caribbean Cruises
to manage the complex IT infra-
structures on board its cruise liners
with fewer resources resulting in
less downtime and costs.
“The solutions enable inte-
grated, automated and proactive
IT management which reduces
the number of problems we
experience with our ship systems,
thereby improving the services
delivered to our guests,” explains
Martin.
The complete CA Technologies
solution has resulted in enhanced
service assurance and improved
service portfolio management,
which enables Royal Caribbean
Cruises to better support innova-
tion and enhance business agility,
continuously improve the guest
experience, and optimise resource
utilisation and cost control.
Using CA Technologies solutions enables
Royal Caribbean to manage the complex IT
infrastructures on board its cruise liners with
fewer resources resulting in less downtime
and costs according to its CIO Bill Martin.
Bill Martin from Royal Carribbean
Cruises says that technology
touches every element of the
cruise experience.
NEWS, DATA, ANALYSIS AND STRATEGIC INSIGHTS FOR MANUFACTURING PROFESSIONALS IN THE GCC
An ITP Executive Publication
THE FIRST AND ONLY MIDDLE EAST PUBLICATION DEDICATED TO MANUFACTURING PROFESSIONALS
Joining ITP Business Publishing’s vast stable of construction and energy magazines, Manufacturing Executive Middle East is the first title in the region to address the thriving manufacturing sector, from the primary industry providers smelting aluminium and milling steel, to the SMEs carrying out assembly and finishing work locally.
Manufacturing Executive Middle East is a must read for professionals from the manufacturing industry across the GCC. It covers all aspects of the industry and keeps its readers up to date with the latest news and trends in the region. It includes in-depth interviews, features and special reports as well as a project focus section that gives full details on upcoming events across the Gulf.
EDITORIAL
ANIL BHOYRULEditorial DirectorTel: +971 4 4443000Email: [email protected]
Sectors covered by Manufacturing Executive Middle East includeMotor industryFMCGChemicals and PharmaceuticalsPower and EnergyOil and GasConstruction
SALES
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CONTACTS
Contact one of our team today to f ind out more about th is exci t ing new t i t le
NEWS, DATA, ANALYSIS AND STRATEGIC INSIGHTS FOR MANUFACTURING PROFESSIONALS IN THE GCC
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Learn how Ducab managed the growth and expansion
of its cable business through the worst of the downturn
CABLE TIESALSO IN THIS ISSUE...
Temporary and back up power options examined P32
Oman’s cement sector shows signs of potential for its investors P14
DUCT FACTORY HELPS TO KEEP ARABIAN MEP CONTRACTING ON SCHEDULE P22
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE..
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An ITP Business Publication
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t tt tt t
To s u b s c r i b e f o r F R E E v i s i t : w w w. a r a b i a n b u s i n e s s . c o m / m e m e
Kempinski boosts wi-fi to meet guest expectationsKempinski chose Aruba networks to implement a hotel wide wi-fi upgrade that included implementing in-room IPTV and connected mini-bars
Cas
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Kempinski Mall of the
Emirates has implement-
ed a hotel-wide wire-
less network upgrade
that not only allows guests to
connect multiple devices to the
network, but also allows the
hotel to run IPTV and connected
mini-bars in each room.
THE PROBLEM:When Kempinski started the
hotel in 2005, and when it began
operating in early 2006, very few
devices connected to wireless, in
fact there were very few laptops
that even came with connectiv-
ity. Hotel guests utilised wired
connections through their lap-
tops to access the internet.
“We did implement wireless,
but it was not really designed
for the kind of environment that
we are experiencing today. We
ended up having a few access
points in the corridors covering
the rooms on both sides. During
recent years there was a lot of
issues with the coverage because
people always want to be con-
nected, they have devices in their
pocket and they expect it to be
connected all the time,” said
Prasanna Rupasinghe, director
if IT & AV at Kempinski Hotel Mall
of the Emirates.
All of the hotel’s guests wanted
to be wirelessly connected
across multiple devices 24 hours
a day and the legacy network
was not equipped to cater to
this demand, which can reach to
thousands of devices connected
time during busy periods.
“When the guest went to the
room we had a lot of complaints
that the wireless was not stable
or they did not have coverage in
The 48,000 square metre-Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates
opened in April 2006 and has 393 rooms and suites, including
15 Ski Chalets with views of one of the world’s largest indoor
ski slopes and the biggest covered snow park.
The rooms range in size from 45 square metres to 228
square metres. All the hotel’s 393 deluxe rooms and suites are
equipped with large plasma flatscreen TVs with access to 80
international satellite channels, as well as a DVD and multi-
media player.
The hotel boasts two restaurants, two bars and 13
conference rooms with a maximum capacity of 150 people. The
hotel can accommodate up to 1,000 guests at any one time.
Kempinski Mall of the Emirates:
Kempinsky Mall of the Emirates partnered with Aruba to
implement a hotel wide, full coverage wireless network.
certain areas of the room. Some
people were using their devices
in the bath to read the newspa-
per and could not get Wi-Fi,” said
Rupasinghe.
The hotel has a lot of families
visiting and some rooms can
have up to nine guests, each with
multiple personal devices that
need to be connected and the
hotel was unable to cope with the
demand. Another issue that the
hotel faces is a lack of seamless
coverage, there were spots in the
April 2013 Vol.19 No.04 29
Prasanna Rupasing, director of IT and AV at
Kempinski said that having good wireless
coverage is essential for guests.
hotel that guests could not get
coverage on their devices.
Not only that, but adminis-
tration applications that used
to be on the wired network
had evolved on to the wireless
network to improve produc-
tivity and efficiency, and the
Kempinsky legacy network was
unable to handle the demand.
THE SOLUTION:Kempinski Mall of the Emirates
had to find a wireless network
solution that was designed spe-
cifically to address high density
environments such as a hotel or
hospital environment to ensure
that their guests to have 24 hour
full Wi-Fi coverage.
“We were looking for wire-
less access points specifically
designed to go into a hotel room.
When we looked, there were not
many choices. What we wanted
was a custom solution made
for a hotel environment that
Aruba Networks is a leading provider of next-generation network
access solutions for mobile enterprise networks.
The company’s Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture
unifies wired and wireless infrastructures into one network access
solution — for traveling business professionals, remote workers,
corporate headquarters employees and guests.
With Aruba, access privileges are linked to a user’s identity. That
means your enterprise workforce has consistent, secure access
to network resources based on who they are — no matter where
they are, what devices they use or how they connect.
This eliminates the cost and complexity of managing separate
wired and wireless access policies. In fact, with Aruba you’ll need
fewer ports and consequently less equipment in the wiring closet
— effectively rightsizing your access infrastructure.
Aruba embraces BYOD by giving corporate IT mobile device
access control.
This is achieved by adding device intelligence — called device
fingerprinting — to the corporate Wi-Fi network. With Aruba
MOVE, personal mobile devices can connect securely to the
network in accordance with corporate policies.
Aruba Networks:
gives multi-service architecture
because we were doing a retrofit.
It should be something that you
can install and then hide if you
need to and should be easy to
install with the existing infra-
structure,” said Rupasinghe.
The hotel was also looking
at enabling additional services
alongside the new wireless infra-
structure, such as administrative
apps like wireless check in and
check out, more personalized
services through the use of iPad
applications in housekeeping
and things like IP telephont, IPTV
and connected mini bars.
“We saw that it was more
efficient being able to work on
mobile and work mobile rather
than sitting at one desk. For
example housekeeping carry an
iPad and when they go to a room
they know which guest is staying
in that room, their background,
their preferences, etc. So before
you go into the room because
these services to the available
bandwidth.
“We already had one cable for
the TV in the room so we used the
same thing, then you distribute
the IP services on the multi-
service access point. It allows us
to be more flexible and reduce a
lot of costs, if you had to redo the
cabling it would have been a big
cost,” Rupasinghe said.
THE IMPLEMENTATION: There were two solutions
Kempinski found that work in
hotel rooms, the hotel IT depart-
ment then did comprehensive
“Internet free with the room is more important than a free breakfast, guests always ask whether the internet is free and do not ask about free breakfast any more.”
Prasanna Rupasinghe, director if IT & AV at Kempinski Hotel, Mall of the Emirates.
you are able to see the guest
details and give personalised
sevices such as a specific type of
pillow,” said Rupasinghe.
“We recently launched the
guest check-in, check-out which
is now done on iPads, so you can
go to a guest and show them the
expenditure, they don’t have to
be in a queue or come to the desk,
they can check the bill .pay and
check out.”
Rather than recabling the
whole hotel to have these addi-
tional services Kempinski wanted
to have one uplink for the access
point so that they could add
complaints about poor network connectivity, lack of internet
access or slow connectivity to zero.
the hotel does not have to spend money upgrading again soon
hotel by providing seamless connectivity to guests
Business benefits:
30 April 2013 Vol.19 No.04
the capacity. All this was com-
bined with a 6000 series control-
ler that can support up to 8000
users and provides speed up to
20Gbps,” said Bhardwaj.
The AP93 access points, which
are installed in the rooms are
customised for hotels, hospitals
and high density environments
where there are many people
inside a room.
“I think Kempinski is one of the
first in the region to implement
IPTV in the rooms and our prod-
uct supports that connectivity
and the necessary speed. We pro-
vided a comprehensive solution,”
said Bhardwaj.
IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGESKempinski had to upgrade the
network without closing down
the hotel rooms. It planned to co-
exist the legacy network and the
new network at the same time,
and managed to keep all the
rooms open during installation.
The hotel had in-house people
who were trained to implement
the solution.
“When the room was not occu-
pied our guys went in and fixed
the AP after we did the initial
mock up set up and testing we
knew exactly where to put the
access point, and because Aruba
provided such good training we
were able to implement the new
access point in only 35 minutes
per room. That is to install, con-
figure, plug it in and also put the
IPTV on the same network and
configure,” said Rupasinghe.
The whole implementation
process took around two months
during the Ramadan period in
2012 and the access points are
all mounted APs and are hidden
behind the televisions.
“We have had no major issues,
obviously after we implemented
it there was a period of fine tun-
ing which we have done now and
if you look at guest feedback,
before the implementation we
had 90% of guests complain
about connectivity and the inter-
net. We had a lot of complaints
that there was no connectivity, it
was not stable, throughput is not
there, now with the new system
I would say we have achieved no
major complaints from guests,
they are happy,” Rupasinghe said.
BUSINESS BENEFITS:According to Kempinski, at the
end of the day the business
benefits of the new wireless solu-
tion are all completely related to
whether the Kempinski’s guests
are happy with network access.
“Internet free with the room
is more important than a free
breakfast, guests always ask
whether the internet is free and
don’t ask about free breakfast
any more,” said Rupasinghe.
“We believe wireless is the key
for guests today, because that
essentially is adding value to
what you are selling as a product.
Wireless is part of the luxury
experience and a really good
experience for guests,” he said.
Manish Bhardwaj from Aruba Networks says that they
implemented a 6000 series controller that can support up to 8,000 users and provides speed up to 20Gbps.
“I think Kempinski is one of the first hotels in the region to implement IPTV in the rooms, and our product supports that connectivity and the speed. We provided a comprehensive solution.” Manish Bhardwaj, marketing manager Middle East and Turkey at Aruba Networks.
meeting areas (more to be added)
provides speed up to 20Gbps.
Hardware implemented:
Training went hand in hand with the implementation of the
network access points, there was onsite training and knowledge
transfers. Aruba’s implementation team was there with their
technical teams doing the knowledge and training on site during
the implementation.
Training:
proof-of-concept testing over
a four month to analyse the
process and effectiveness of
both solutions. The hotel looked
at the availability, coverage,
throughput and also looked at
the build-quality between the
two solutions and the possible
lifespan of the product. One of
the key aspects was security
because the hotel is not only run-
ning guest services.
“After doing testing we
selected Aruba, because their
support team and access to
knowledge and the key people in
the technical team were always
available to help us develop the
solution,” said Rupasinghe.
Aruba was asked to upgrade
the legacy access points to pro-
vide better connectivity, security
and scalability to the network,
primarily because of the influx of
new personal connected devices.
“The number of devices that
guests bring into a hotel has
increased to approximately three
per person and higher. We had to
provide a custom wireless solu-
tion. What we had was not ready-
made for hotels. We came up
with a solution that would enable
Kempinski’s guests to connect
securely to the infrastructure,”
said Manish Bhardwaj, marketing
manager Middle East and Turkey
at Aruba Networks.
Once the solution was thor-
oughly tested it was first installed
in the rooms, then into the cor-
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that were placed inside the
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According to Kaspersky Lab, approximately 91% of
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REDUCING THE ENTERPRISE ATTACK SURFACE WITH ENDPOINT CONTROL
32 April 2013 Vol.19 No.04
infographic
40% of attacks
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35% lost
business data
61% of the attacks
occurred due to malware infection
91% of businesses
experienced at least one IT Security
event
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an increase in the number of cyber-attacks
SOURCE:
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he PMP 450 allows service
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The PMP 450 is highly spectral
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Graham Owen, regional sales director MEA explains the new PMP 450
Graham Owen from Cambium networks
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than 90 Mbps of peak throughput in
only 20 MHs of spectrum from a single
Access Point (AP).
34 April 2013 Vol.19 No 04
36 April 2013 Vol.19 No.4
Network separation, secure Wi-Fi access and up to date security software are just some of the necessities to
protect the public and private network in the hospitality industry, according to regional experts.
Securing your stay
Security
April 2013 Vol.19 No.4 37
When looking at the
security threats to the
ICT infrastructure in
the Hotel industry,
there are two perspectives that
need to be tackled, firstly, the
need to protect the security and
integrity of personal and financial
data of hotel guests ie credit
cards, room allocations, names
and addresses.
Secondly, a hotel must ensure
a consistent quality of service to
guests by providing them with
stable and secure broadband
internet connectivity. This is
something that in today’s hospi-
tality market is almost a necessity
in order to be competitive.
“The most effective strategy for
a hotel is to have two isolated net-
works that service each purpose.
The first network should be
designed to provide guests with
broadband internet access. This
network must be built to combat
and mitigate any malicious
software which could be planted
by hackers targeting the hotel’s
data centre. It must also be able
to protect all guests logged into
the network from similar attacks,”
explains Asfar Zaidi, principal
security consultant, at global ICT
solutions provider Huawei Enter-
prise, Middle East.
Additionally the hotel network
should have built-in measures
to prevent rogue Wi-Fi points/
hotspots and unauthorised access
which slows down the entire
network and degrades the service
to others.
The second network is de-
signed only for corporate use by
hotel management. User authen-
tication, firewalls and data leak-
Asfar Zaidi from Huawei Enterprise, Middle East says the hotel network
must be able to not only protect the hotel, but also the guests that
are logged into that network.
“The fact that anyone can walk into a hotel with a smart phone and see a number of unsecured Wi-Fi networks demonstrates how vulnerable a network can be due to rogue Wi-Fi hotspots.” Asfar Zaidi, principal security consultant, at global ICT solutions provider Huawei Enterprise, Middle East.
age protection are critical to this
network to ensure that a) no one
from inside the network is able to
steal data undetected, and b) that
no one from outside the network
can remotely gain access.
“The corporate network must
be protected from un-authorised
access and the introduction of
malware through devices con-
nected to the network by autho-
rised users. This can be achieved
by using data leakage prevention
systems, firewalls, IPS and antivi-
rus gateways,” says Zaidi.
PCI DSS COMPLIANCEIf the hotel network is not
separated from the guest internet
network, that is cause for major
concern, as the hotel network
needs to comply with Payment
Card Industry (PCI) data security
standards, since it manages and
processes credit card and person-
al information about the guests
and their identity credentials.
PCIs clearly explain measures
needed to protect the informa-
tion of customers.
For example, it states that data
must be stored securely in a data
centre that has seven layers of
security which should include,
application firewalls, IPS, antivirus
and anti-Ddos solutions.
“Traditional firewalls work until
layer four, application firewalls
work from layer five to layer
seven and layers one to seven are
the complete IP protocol stack,”
explains Zaidi.
If any guest can hook up an
infected piece of equipment and
inject malware into the main
business network there is a huge
potential and real risk of loss of
breach and loss of personal and
sensitive information about tens
of thousands of people.
“As a guest using the amenity,
there is no excuse or reason to
rely only on a hotel connectivity
service provider to protect us. To
do so can cause a great deal of
problems later and could impact
your work or home upon return-
ing. In short, if the hotel guest
Personal firewall: never turn it off
Personal Anti-Virus: make sure it is up-to-date and turned
on
Basic rules for hotel guests accessing the network:
network is wide open with no
protective services and is some-
thing you need to use, make sure
that you have done everything in
your power to protect your-
self. You should not leave your
common sense at home,” states
Miguel Braojos, vice president of
Sales Southern Europe, Middle
East and Africa (SEMEA) at global
security experts SafeNet.
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April 2013 Vol.19 No.4 39
however, the challenge for the
hotel industry is to provide open
access for a wide variety of guests
– business travelers, vacationers,
parents, etc. – while ensuring
that the data and devices being
brought in are not infected.
“Unfortunately, remote-access
is too often poorly secured, for
example a default password, the
same password for all customers,
a password shared with the entire
staff. Once attackers find the
password, they can simply log in
and help themselves to whatever
data they want. Hotel networks
are pretty much an open door
with open-Wi-Fi, weak firewalls
and poor passwords used by the
guests. It is also fairly easy for an
attacker to set-up an unsecured
Wi-Fi access point, called ‘Free Wi-
Fi’, near a busy hotel. The attacker
probably won’t need to wait long
before a connection-starved road
warrior plugs-in. The attacker can
SECURITY MEASURESAnother key consideration
when protecting such a compli-
cated public and private network
system is ensuring that security
measures, such as limiting and
determining the type of devices
that can be used on the network;
implementing minimum system
requirements and configurations;
installing appropriate security-
related software to the devices;
monitoring the use of devices to
detect any misuse to the devices
(hacking or malware) are correctly
implemented and constantly
carefully updated.
One out of date patch can lead to
a compromised network.
Omar Malkawi from Gulf Business Machines says that online hotel room booking sites can also be a major threat to the hotel network.
“A hotel guest used his old password after checking-out to access the hotel network and took away valuable information from the servers. After an investigation, it was found that the hotel network administrator was using one network virtual LAN [flat network] for guests and backbone.” Omar Malkawi, Abu Dhabi INS manager at IT solutions provider, Gulf Business Machines
“With any data security
technology, it is imperative to
continue to update systems, as
hackers are constantly develop-
ing new, faster ways of obtaining
data. The hotel industry in the
past has steered clear of the use
of encryption for data protection,
deeming it to be difficult to use.
Compliance regulations such as
the PCI standard also mandate
the use of encryption technology
for the protection of credit card
and card-holder data,” explains
Braojos.
When attacking hotels, hackers
target credit card data and iden-
tity theft, the same as if they were
targeting any other organisation,
Omar Malkawi Abu Dhabi INS manager at Gulf Business Machines explains the threats that face hotels through online booking portals
Today, hotel rooms can be easily booked online. A vast variety
of online booking websites offer rooms at discounted rates
in addition to the deals posted online by hotels themselves.
While online bookings are incredibly convenient for travelers,
e-commerce websites are susceptible to hackers. Unethical
users can take advantage of these online portals to access hotel
and guest confidential information. This has encouraged most
of the hotels to adopt a standard security model. While this is a
step in the right direction, following security standards alone is
not sufficient enough to avoid all potential attacks. The job of
those protecting hotel networks is complex, and various steps
need to be taken to ensure the hotel is aware about its network
vulnerability.
The only way to identify and understand the level of security is
to have Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Penetration Testing
(PT) done in their network by a certified company. These pro-
active tests are a common practice among the banks, but now
most companies across different sectors carry out these tests.
They are most useful for providing an accurate picture of the
health of company’s infrastructure.
Security infrastructure is more like all the systems working
together to mitigate information security risk from both
external and internal users.
The online booking threat
40 April 2013 Vol.19 No.4
gional director at wireless experts
Ruckus Wireless.
Hotel networks consist of many
different systems in order to
offer services and track expenses
for each guest. These systems
also provide service continuity
throughout different depart-
ments or areas of the hotel or
resort. The goal is to provide an
easy, natural flow of identification
and responsiveness to the guest
needs as they use different areas
within the establishment.
“The greater the speed in
identification and awareness of
personal preferences associated
with the guest, the more personal
the experience will be; we can all
remember the places we have
stayed where we felt recognised.
These are the systems that hotels
or resorts are responsible for
securing,” explains Braojos.
The internet services hotels
offer their guests as an ame-
nity is similar to their offer of a
swimming pool: It is available
to guests and there are certain
rules that should be followed to
enjoy it safely. But the hotel is not
responsible if a guest logs onto
his company’s mail without VPN
or strong authentication on the
hotel’s internet service.
It is the responsibility of the
guests to protect their assets’ data
while using it. Hotels provide a
service and it is up to the cus-
tomer to use them with common
sense and the due protection in
their own equipment.
“If we bring a laptop with us to
a hotel or resort, we are respon-
sible for making sure it is secure
before it is on the network. If
we connect wirelessly, we need
to make sure that our sensitive
communications are using strong
encryption. The hotel provides
the service just like your home In-
ternet service provider; normally,
the security provided with the
service is set to a bare minimum
and always requires you to add
security controls to protect your
data. It’s up to each of us to have
updated patches, antivirus, a
firewall, intrusion prevention, se-
cure communication and to turn
off services that would provide
access to files and service on our
equipment,” says Braojos.
A recent advance that can help
the hotel secure its network is
the use of ‘tokenisation’ or form
factor encryption, which changes
the credit card numbers in the
system so it can be used for
loyalty programs, marketing and
data-mining purposes without
ever exposing the customer credit
card number or information, but
enabling a direct relationship
with the real customer profile
without ever compromising his
personal data. Therefore, in this
way, the hospitality company can
use data-mining techniques and
advanced profiling algorithms to
fine tune their customer prefer-
ences, increase their spending
and cater to all their potential
needs according to their profile
and spending level
Another step to ensure security
with the huge number of devices
that access a hotel network, is
to ensure that only legitimate
hotel guests are allowed onto the
leaking out of the network
quickly and efficiently
Top 5 security must-haves for the hotel network: Fortinet
“In order to secure BYOD in the hospitality industry, policies need to be put in place that outline visibility, as well as control, in terms of who and what is accessing the networks.” Nader Baghdadi, Middle East regional director, Ruckus Wireless.
then just pull data out of the air
with a network sniffer, leaving no
trace whatsoever on the victim’s
computer, or smartphone,” says
Rob Ayoub, technical marketing
manager at global firewall secu-
rity experts Fortinet.
THE BYOD FACTOR
is increasingly gaining popu-
larity, even in the hospitality
sector. Given that the demand for
remote mobile access is increas-
ingly becoming a dominant factor
among consumers, hotels should
ensure that they are implement-
ing the necessary security in
their network – both in terms of
hardware and software.
hospitality industry, policies need
to be put in place that outline vis-
ibility, as well as control, in terms
of who and what is accessing the
networks. Because of the notion
experience faster processes on
their personal devices. These
are benefits that are continu-
ously becoming fundamental
to users; and different measures
need to be put in place in order
to maintain security for both
hardware and software,” states
Nader Baghdadi, Middle East re-
Nader Baghdadi from Ruckus Wireless says that different hardware and software security measures must be put in place on the hospitality network.
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42 April 2013 Vol.19 No.4
guest network. A mechanism that
randomly generates user name
and passwords that expire after
certain time periods is the best
way to do this.
“It is critically important for a
hotel to invest in software that
monitors the activity of users
logged into its guest network.
IPS [Intelligent Prevention
System] and firewalls can prevent
scenarios where a hacker may
want to initiate an attack when
they are already in the system.
Hotels’ ICT managers must
also try to prevent rogue Wi-Fi
hotspots that are linked to the
hotel’s network. The fact that
anyone can walk into a hotel with
a smart phone and see a number
of unsecured Wi-Fi networks
demonstrates how vulnerable a
network can be due to rogue Wi-
Fi hotspots,” states Zaidi.
IS THE NETWORK EVER SECURE?It is possible to have a very
secure hotel network, with the
mised with malware, is scanned
each time before it is connected
to a corporate network. There are
also controls such as Data Leak-
age Prevention systems, which
ensure there is a second layer in
front of the datacentre to safe-
guards credit cards and customer
information by using the latest
Anti-Ddos solutions and firewalls
and IPS. Following security
guidelines and procedures are a
key to protecting critical data.
“A hotel guest used his old
password after checking-out to
access the hotel network and
took away valuable informa-
tion from the servers. After an
investigation, it was found that
the hotel network administrator
was using one network virtual
LAN [flat network] for guests and
backbone. In addition, old pass-
words issued for the guest were
still present in the authentication
server with no time limit policy,”
explains Omar Malkawi, Abu
Dhabi INS manager at IT solution
provider, Gulf Business Machines.
One of the answers to help
completely secure the hotel
network is the use of separation,
looking at other industries like
retail or education; they imple-
ment careful segmentation of
data on the network.
network separation between
the business network and the
guest internet network, and by
deploying the right combination
of strong user authentication
and data encryption solutions
with common key management,
which will be the anchor of trust
of such a holistic approach to
data protection.
“Hotels should make sure they
have layers of security to make it
as hard as possible for hack-
ers or malware to compromise
their infrastructure and data.
However they should accept that
it is unlikely that they are 100%
secure. Therefore they should
make sure that their sensitive
data is secured using encryption,
is accessed using multi-factor au-
thentication and that they store
their encryption keys in hardware
security modules away from the
data” explains Braojos.
Multiple security layers also
need to be put in place to ensure
that an employee’s personal
device, which may be compro-
“As a guest using the amenity, there is no excuse or reason to rely only on a hotel connectivity service provider to protect us.” Miguel Braojos, vice president of Sales Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa (SEMEA), SafeNet.
“Unfortunately, remote access is too often poorly secured; for example, a default password, the same password for all customers, a password shared with the entire staff.” Rob Ayoub, technical marketing manager, Fortinet.
Encryption is an essential tool to protect the hotel network says Miguel Braojos from SafeNet.
tests (PT) annually to understand the vulnerabilities, holes
and security threats in the entire network.
and network devices by the certified company. Some small
to medium size hotels can also adopt the cloud based
hosting the applications.
following the global best practices.
independent from each other.
and after the guests check-out passwords should be
disabled automatically.
Security essentials for a hospitality network: Gulf Business Machines
44 April 2013 Vol.19 No.4
Cloud
While cloud is defi nitely a technology of interest for hotels in the Middle East and GCC region, levels of adoption are still low due to implementation costs and security concerns, writes Piers Ford.
April 2013 Vol.19 No.4 45
It is hard to think of an IT trend more suited to a specifi c sector
than the cloud is to hospitality. So it comes as a surprise to see
how cautiously the industry has approached its potential to
provide a platform for delivering back offi ce applications and
integrated, customer-facing applications, as well as the level of con-
nectivity and wireless internet access that is expected by guests in
the 21st century.
In the Middle East, with its reputation for state-of-the-art hotels
and high volume of greenfi eld sites, there is less reliance on the
legacy infrastructures which once marked the hospitality sector out
as a leading-edge technology adopter. In the West, that legacy is
so embedded that it is putting the brakes on a general shift to the
cloud, despite widespread enthusiasm for the model. So why aren’t
Middle Eastern hotels moving more quickly to embrace it?
“I think the biggest obstacle for the use of cloud in the region
is the cost of connectivity, be it the public internet, MPLS private
networks or VPNs,” says Prasanna Rupasinghe, director of informa-
tion technology at Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates. “In addition,
there are other factors such as performance unpredictability, infor-
mation security, data privacy and confi dentiality, regulatory compli-
ance and auditability, which might impact the use of cloud.
“Having said that, most hospitality technology vendors now off er
turnkey solutions on cloud platforms, and many hotel chains in the
region are either in the process of implementing cloud-based solu-
tions or evaluating cloud technology.”
PUBLIC CLOUDThe public cloud has already established itself as the preferred way
to deliver front-of-house guest services. Martin Chevalley, CEO and
founder of guest services software specialist InnSpire, says that
cloud can be used to provide guests with simple services such as
access to their favourite television programmes, radio channels and
social media platforms.
On the business side, integrated cloud applications can provide ho-
tels with in-depth analytics and data mining, making more proactive
use of customer information to fi ne-tune and develop better services.
April 2013 Vol.19 No.4 47
Kempinski has used public
cloud services since 2008 when
it implemented Google Apps.
It also uses Amazon Web Ser-
vices for server and system soft-
ware provisioning running on
a private network – in essence,
a hybrid model that provides
multiple corporate IT services to
all hotel units, including moni-
toring and help desk systems,
domain name system (DNS)
servers, active directories and
reporting tools.
“We recently launched an
additional module to our local
PMS system called Opera2Go,
accessible anywhere on any
device,” he says. “This module
provides key functions such as
check-in and –out, queries, bill-
ing and housekeeping functions
on wireless mobile devices. This
makes use of public cloud for
public-facing user interface on
web services, and back-end da-
tabase connectivity is provided
on the private cloud between
the hotel and service provider.”
LEVEL OF SERVICECloud computing is a good
match with round-the-clock
businesses like hotels, because
“It is a mix of private and
public cloud,” states Cheval-
ley. “There are private and very
secure clouds such as storage
and data analytics, and there
are public clouds like media and
content. At Innspire we use a
mix of both.
“The cloud methodology
really gives instant access to a
world of relevant information in
all kinds of areas. Being able to
avoid storing and securing data
locally is a huge financial benefit
as it cuts cost for not only the
storage and servers themselves,
but also for the space that
would otherwise be required,
the cooling it would need, the
security and so on. Further-
more, the cloud methodology
provides a world of freedom and
flexibility, as it becomes easier
to switch content providers.”
According to Rupasinghe,
several hotel chains already run
private clouds on Multiprotocol
Label Switching (MPLS) internet
networks that provide connec-
tivity to key hospitality software
applications such as Property
Management Systems (PMS),
financial management and
payroll systems, as well as access
to corporate information and
collaboration platforms.
“I would say that we are prob-
ably more conservative in the
region when it comes to cloud
infrastructure, security and
resilience,” he explains.
“Many hotels are still reluctant
to use public clouds such as
AWS, Google Apps, Zoho Docs
and Microsoft Azure due to high
costs of internet bandwidth,
and security and compliance
concerns.”
Industry insiders say it is vital to plan your migration to the
cloud carefully, assessing each application’s suitability and
ensuring that you are not simply letting the hype guide
you in the wrong direction. The notion that cloud is a more
economical solution could be mistaken.
“Select your provider wisely,” says Soroush Nazemi, director
of IT systems at Hyatt Dubai. “Total cost of ownership is not only
your initial or monthly fees, but also any data loss that could
occur due to Security Bridge or system malfunction. This is
especially important if you are planning to keep PCI and credit
card applications on the cloud – make sure your provider has
proven experience in delivering similar solutions.”
Nazemi said it is also important to involve your stakeholders
in the migration, and gather their feedback along the way, so
that it can be used to improve the end-user’s experience with
the new systems.
At Kempinski, director of information technology Prasanna
Rupasinghe said due diligence should also include a complete
understanding of the service provider’s SLAs, and that
reliability, availability and business continuity are adequately
defined – regardless of the price.
“Ensure you have enough network bandwidth and
redundant network lines terminated at the hotel, in case of
network outages,” he says.
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket; try to use different
cloud providers. For critical databases, you might want to use
more than one cloud provider with standardise APIs, to ensure
that the SaaS provider can switch in case of the failure, and
services won’t be affected.”
Preparing the ground for CloudSoroush Nazemi from Hyatt Dubai
says that it is very important to involve the stakeholders if a hotel
plans to move to the cloud.
“Use of cloud in the UAE and GCC is still in its early stages but most hotels already use some aspect of it. Almost all hotels use cloud for their email, social networking and non-core business applications.” Soroush Nazemi, director of IT systems at Hyatt Dubai.
48 April 2013 Vol.19 No.4
industry players because of their
traditional cost.
“Adopting cloud-based
solutions frees hoteliers from
building and maintaining large
and complex IT infrastructures,
allowing them to solely focus
more on value creation and
leverage the technology made
available by cloud services at
lower costs,” he explains.
“The ability to scale IT infra-
structure requirements up and
down rapidly, on a pay-per-use
basis, is also a very attractive
proposition for hotels, espe-
cially for those that are highly
seasonal in their operations – ski
resorts, for example.
“The move away from large,
upfront investments in technol-
ogy is equally attractive to hotel
operators, easing up capital
investment requirements from
hotel owners and providing
hoteliers with better flexibility
and agility through on-demand
computing services and access
to the attest technologies and
software services.”
CLOUD CONCERNSSecurity concerns are still the
biggest reason for caution
when it comes to adopting
cloud services – particularly
the public cloud – in the sector.
Any applications that collect
and process guests’ personal
information, financial transac-
tions and business information
must be secure, and there is a
perception that the public cloud
is more fallible than keeping
everything within a traditional
infrastructure.
“Security and safety of data
is key to choosing the type of
cloud,” says Hyatt’s Nazemi.
“Companies offering cloud and
SaaS must prove that they can
keep the data secure and pro-
vide enough backups and sys-
tems to avoid data loss. Guest
privacy must be considered
when deciding which informa-
tion and systems to move to the
cloud. This is to minimise the
risk associated with compromis-
ing that important data.”
“Unlike many other businesses,
it provides them with the
continuous high level of service
required to fulfil guest expec-
tations, according to Soroush
Nazemi, director of IT systems at
Hyatt Dubai.
“Moving services to the cloud
increases the reliability of appli-
cations and avoids interruption
to service delivery,” he says. “Ex-
panding services according to
need is another attractive aspect.
Since Hyatt moved its email plat-
form from individual hotels to
cloud, the uptime of the service
has risen vastly and communica-
tion interruption for guests
is almost non-existent. It also
helped expansion very easily,
joining new hotels to the chain
in a matter of hours. In the past
they had to wait a few months
to prepare their network and
platform to host their individual
email servers.”
At Kempinski, Prasanna
Rupasinghe says cloud technol-
ogy has helped hoteliers take
advantage of sophisticated
applications and advanced
functionality that were previ-
ously only accessible to the large
Cloud adoption concerns for hotels IT managers:
as access to television programmes, radio channels, social
media platforms
analytics and data mining, allowing them to fine-tune and
develop better services
costs as hotels do not have to have their own data centres
communication interruption for guests
properties onto a central IT system
The benefits of cloud for hotels
“I think the biggest obstacle for the use of cloud in the region is the cost of con-nectivity, be it the public internet, MPLS private networks or VPNs.” Prasanna Rupasinghe, director of information technol-ogy, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates.
Prasanna Rupasinghe from Kempinski Hotel at Mall of the Emirates says that many hotel chains in the region are either in the process of implementing cloud-based solutions or evaluating cloud technology.
April 2013 Vol.19 No.4 49
hotel information systems
contain millions of records with
guest information, credit card
details and other confidential
data stored indefinitely on
databases,” agrees Rupasinghe.
“This should be taken into ac-
count when considering a cloud
service provider, as privacy and
compliance regulations vary
across different jurisdictions in
the region.”
Deciding which systems to
move to the cloud could also be
a cost issue. Hoteliers need to
be certain that transferring an
tions, security and privacy,
should remain in private clouds
until there is a wide availabil-
ity of regional cloud service
providers and a reduction in the
communication line costs.”
EARLY STAGESHotels should test platforms
thoroughly and assess the dif-
ference the cloud could make
to their business and services
before making a wholesale
commitment to migration.
Hyatt’s Nazemi recom-
mended a gradual move, taking
things one application at a
time, and involving end-users at
every stage so that the benefits
are fully realised across the
business.
“Total cost of ownership –and
therefore the bottom line – is
affected, depending on which
provider is chosen for private
cloud,” he said. “While an
inexpensive provider might
look attractive to begin with,
the cost of data loss could be
heavy if they cannot guarantee
security.
“Use of cloud in the UAE and
GCC is still in its early stages but
most hotels already use some
aspect of it. Almost all hotels
use cloud for their email, social
networking and for their non-
core business applications.”
Nazemi estimated that only
around half the hotels in the re-
gion are moving core business
applications to the cloud.
However, as the international
chains implement centralised
data centres that incorporate
some use of the cloud, the
industry will develop a more
consistent approach to the new
and exciting computing model.
“In the years to come, cloud
will be a strong topic in hotels
and hotel chains,” he said.
The adoption rate will
depend on software vendors
embracing the model.
“Hospitality application
providers play a very impor-
tant role in providing the right
certification or support on cloud
platforms. Without their full
support, hotels will face extre,e
difficulties in utilising the cloud
effectively and properly for their
core applications.”
application to the cloud won’t
create performance issues that
impact on guest services.
“I think public cloud is ideal
for email and collaboration plat-
forms that can be accessed from
anywhere and virtually from any
device,” said Rupasinghe, who
believes that public clouds are
also an easy and efficient way to
deliver Web 2.0 and emerging
Web 3.0 technologies.
“Particularly in this region,
I think the more strategic IT
services that carry more risk
around performance, regula-
Cloud is an important technology for the
hotel sector, according to experts, because
it offers better connectivity and application
delivery than traditional IT.
“The cloud methodology really gives instant access to a world of relevant information in all kinds of areas.” Martin Chevalley, CEO and founder of guest services software specialist InnSpire.
Martin Chevalley from InnSpire
says that the cloud provides
a world of freedom and
flexibility, as it becomes easier
to switch content providers.
Security experts ManageEngine and HelpAG
go head-to-head on hotel network security
“Hospitality networks are often completely uncontrolled and all users in the network are able to communicate to each other.”
“We have seen most hotels segregate the access to internet and the internal IT resources at the switch level.”
Hotels offer free internet service
as a goodwill gesture to all of their
guests. These guests will be from
all walks of life, and many differ-
ent countries and the hotel has to
ensure that the guests do not intrude
into the hotel network.
We have seen most hotels segregate the
access to internet and the internal IT re-
sources at the switch level. Ideally, they keep the
wired and wireless guest connections in a completely
separate network.
Few hotels do offer guest services over the local area network, which
allow guest’s to access the hotel IT resource.
As they have an overlap in usage, these guest resources are segmented to
a separate network with secured access privileges.
An example of this could be an exclusive login access or one time pass-
word to the guest services.
From the perspective of the user of a
hotel network you should not expect the
hotel to do anything to keep your com-
munication or traffic flows safe. Hospitality
networks are often completely uncontrolled
and all users in the network are able to com-
municate to each other.
From the consumer perspective it is important
that you take the same precautions when using
a hospitality network as when working directly on an
internet connection. From the perspective of the hotel the
most important thing is to keep the hospitality network and corporate
network very separated, maybe even down to different physical infra-
structures. The reason for this separation is that the services running on
the corporate network such a IPTV, VoIP, Booking systems and payment
terminals has become a very criticial part of how the hotel is operated.
Hotels have the requirements to store data about their clients such as
name, addresses, passport number as well as also payment information.
Securing the public network is one of the key challenges facing the hotel industry, which has
recently come under a series of attacks
April
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olum
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AJAY KUMAR, PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER, MANAGEENGINE
NICOLAI SOLLING, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AT HELPAG
HOW DOES A HOTEL ALLOW
GUESTS TO USE ITS NETWORK WHILE KEEPING ITS DATA
SAFE?
April 2013 Vol.19 No.04 51
Like any corporate IT network, the hotels also face the in-
ternal threat from their own staff and exter-
nal threat through the internet. The attacker (i-
nsider or outsider) may look for data like cred-
it card, private information about celebri-
ties etc. These threats are controlled with legacy se-
curity tools, which are grossly insufficient to handle
such threats. The other important IT threat to the ho-
tel is the guest Internet access. The hotel also has the re-
sponsibility to protect their guests from malicious at-
tacks to save their reputation. There was an instance where
the federal agency (FBI) warned hotels guests that malware
maybe getting installed on their laptops in the guise of software up-
dates. This clearly indicates that the hotel has to secure the internet ser-
vices they offer to the guests.The guest might also bring in a lap-
top/ smartphone, which is already infected with virus or mal-
ware. These devices pose additional security threats.
Yes, of course they are more difficult! Unlike a typi-
cal company network, where guests have lim-
ited or no access, hotels are more vulner-
able. The guest Internet access adds a new dimen-
sion to the vulnerability.
In a usual corporate network, the IT re-
sources are clearly governed by poli-
cies and they are accessed by known set of em-
ployees. The guest access is very minimal
or nonexistent. This clearly makes the hotels more unse-
cure and difficult to manage.
From the perspective of the consumer it is to deliver
services to the consumer in-line with the reputation
of the hotel. If I check into a five star hotel I am of
course also expecting a five star internet con-
nection. The same could be said about IPTV and
in-room telephony systems, which are now mostly
based on IP. If these services are not working well it
will impact how I think about the services I receive.
As a good example; I recently stayed in a brand new
hotel in Qatar – five star and really good quality. I only
experienced one issue, which was that their IPTV cut out
every 20 minutes and I had to restart the television, needless to
say not a five star experience.
Another big threat to hotels is that users can connect to the network and
utilise the connection in ways that could be conflicting with local
or international jurisdiction, as an example, the download of
pirated movies.
I would not say that hotels are more difficult to secure
as their data and risk domains is exactly like any
other organisations, however hotels do have specific
requirements.In general we have the technology to
solve the issues within the field of hospitality from
storage of payment card information to logging
what users are doing, but I quite often see that these
things are not being deployed by the hotels as it could
become expensive, therefore the hotels ignore the risk in-
stead of doing something proactive about it. Hotels are in the
services industry and do not necessarily have inhouse technologists.
Nicolai Solling, director of Technology services at HelpAGAjay Kumar, product marketing manager, ManageEngine
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST THREATS
TO HOTEL NETWORKS?
ARE HOTELS MORE OR LESS DIFFICULT TO
SECURE THAN A SIMILAR SIZED
BUSINESS?
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Secu
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focu
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products do detect a C&C, it’s
likely to be simply blocked or
logged without notice – the same
way any minor event is handled.
So in most cases, the organization
never knows that it may be
under a serious targeted attack,”
according to Steve Quane, chief
product officer at Trend Micro.
Trend Micro researchers note
that the average lifespan of a C&C
address is less than three days and
that many sophisticated attackers
use techniques only detectable
AccessData says that data theft
code is so sophisticated it can not
be stopped by traditional anti-
virus or firewalls.
Intellectual property theft is
one of the most common types of
IT fraud committed in the Middle
East region, Simon Whitburn, vice
president International Sales at
global digital forensics expert
AccessData, told Network Middle
East magazine.
“The most common thing we
see is customer data type thefts,
and typically that has been an
individual going in to a company
and stucking a thumb drive in a
device and pulling off a load of
data, it could be credit card data.
They then take that data and sell it
to the highest bidder,” he said.
Data theft has become very
sophisticated, with more and
more highly complex code
coming into companies designed
to steal important confidential
data. This type of code is so
sophisticated, according to
Whitburn that a company’s
anti-virus, data loss prevention
software, firewall, and intrusion
detection systems are not going
to catch it.
“You need to be more vigilant
and have the capability to see
what is actually happening
out there, and also look at the
network traffic,” said Whitburn.
Recently there have been a
number of incidents where code
has come into an organisation
and, according to AccessData,
typically 95% of incidents that
happen are revealed to the
company by an outside source,
because the internal technology
is nto sophisticated enough to
catch the code.
“We have had a couple of
incidents where the company
knows they have been in trouble
because someone has told them
about it, but they don’t know
what it is or where it is, because
as soon as you execute some of
this code, it will change again.
Unless there is a signature out for
it, then you can’t stop it. We don’t
stop anything, we are out there
investigating and looking for
these types of incidents.
“We deploy our technology
to their environment, look for
anomalies, look for differences
or we have an infected machine
and can take a snapshot of what
is going on on the machine, not
stop the code but define that it is
bad stuff,” said Whitburn.
Code designed to steal data is
currently being written all over
the world, but the hot spots are in
the Far East and Eastern Europe.
Whitburn says there is also very
sophisticated code being written
right here in the UAE.
Trend Micro has introduced new
advances in its Custom Defense
solution that focus on identifying
and blocking the command and
control (C&C) communications
used by advanced persistent
threats (APTs) and targeted
attacks. Trend Micro Custom
Defense is designed to enable
organisations not only to detect
and analyse APT attacks, but also
to adapt their protection and
respond to the attackers.
These new advances in C&C
response provide custom
detection and protection for
network, gateway, server and
endpoint protection points,
along with centralised alerting
and C&C risk intelligence to
keep the customer informed
and in control of the response to
command and control activity.
“Most security vendors lack the
expertise, scale, technology and
resources to reliably identify the
various types of C&C. And when
their web, messaging or endpoint
with specialised network-
based detection on-site at the
organisation.
Recently tracked command
and control data from TrendLabs
researchers shows over 1500
active command and controlsites,
with victims per site ranging
from 1 to over 25,000. Of note,
over two-thirds of these sites had
three or fewer active victims. Over
25% of the sites had a lifespan of
one day or less. Over 50% had a
lifespan of four days or less.
Trend Micro introduces C&C defence solution
Simon Whitburn, vice president International Sales at global digital forensics expert AccessData, says data theft is common in the region.
Data theft is common in the
Middle East
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Secu
rity
focu
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allows users to self-service enroll
their devices and IT can provision
policies and apps to large groups
of devices automatically. The
software is also designed to
allow IT to blacklist or whitelist
apps, detect and protect against
jailbroken devices, and wipe or
selectively wipe a device that is
lost, stolen or out of compliance.
“The promise of mobility hinges
on the ability for IT to deliver
secure apps and data to users
on any device. When customers
bring their own devices to work,
as is increasingly the norm, IT
doesn’t have the tools to manage
or secure the content on them.
Dubai Police have arrested four
men accused of being a gang of
cyber criminals who managed
to steal millions of dirhams from
foreign exchange companies
before being detained, Dubai
media reported.
The gang, composed of
Asians and Africans, hacked into
company accounts and changed
payment details, diverting funds
to a number of accounts.
“Cheques worth more than
Dh6bn have been found with
the gang after their arrest,” said
acting chief of Dubai Police
Major General Khamis Matter Al
Mazeina. He also said the suspects
transferred Dh7m to accounts in
their name.
Colonel Salem Khalifa Al
Rumaithi, deputy director of
CID for Search and Investigation
said police were alerted to the
gang’s activities earlier last
month when tipped off about a
$2m transfer from a company’s
account. He said the transfer
was accomplished through the
hacking of company emails.
One gang member, an Asian
national referred to as KS, was
the recipient of the transferred
money and received a 7% cut of
the total amount as payment, Al
Mazeina said. KS is currently in
police custody.
Al Rumaithi said a second
suspect, another Asian national
identified as SK, gave the gang
the details of the destination
accounts, for which he received
a 3% payment. SK has also since
been arrested and confessed to
his part in the operation.
The remainder of the
appropriated funds was received
by an African national, said to be
the instigator of the fraud.
Lieutenant-Colonel Saeed Al
Hajiri, director of the Electronic
Intelligence Department said:
“After wide and comprehensive
search [for] the third suspect,
and [surveillance of] the places
he frequently visited for four
days running, he was eventually
arrested.”
The third man was referred
to as DS, and described as the
middleman between the second
suspect and an Africa-based
cyber gang.
“The suspect confessed to
having participated in the fraud,
and... remittances worth...
Dh4.6bn were recovered, as well
as IDs in different names.”
Citrix has launched its XenMobile
MDM solution, enterprise mobile
device management software
designed to gives users device
choice while enabling IT to meet
its management and compliance
requirements.
“In today’s complex enterprise
mobility environment that
includes a mix of corporate
and employee-liable devices,
companies need solutions that
allow them to manage devices,
data, and apps. The addition of
an MDM solution to the Citrix
MAM and data management
capabilities create a complete
solution. By offering a platform for
mobile enterprise management
that gives options, Citrix can help
give customers the peace of mind
that, if their needs change, the
platform can adjust,” said Stephen
Drake, Programme VP Mobile
Enterprise, IDC.
XenMobile MDM features
role-based management,
configuration and security of
corporate and employee-owned
devices. The solution is built on
a highly secure architecture and
integrates directly with Microsoft
Active Directory and public key
infrastructure systems, as well as
security information and event
management tools. The software
With its comprehensive portfolio
of mobile solutions, Citrix offers
customers the ability to say ‘yes’.
Yes to total mobile freedom by
providing a complete solution that
can manage and secure all devices,
apps and data while giving users
the ability to experience work and
life their way,” said Amit Pandey,
group vice president and general
manager, Mobile Platforms, Citrix
In addition to XenMobile MDM,
Citrix now also offers a Mobile
Solutions Bundle for Enterprise
Mobility Management (EMM).
The Mobile Solutions Bundle is
comprised of XenMobile MDM
and CloudGateway.
Citrix debuts new MDM solution
A cyber criminal gang managed to steal millions of dirhams from foreign exchange companies.
Dubai police crack
international cyber ring
April 2013 Vol.19 No.04 55
7:00 – 7:30 AMRise and shine! Usually I wake
up to the sight of my kids – two
sons, aged 11 and 5, and my
daughter (two and half). My
sons are usually up and ready
for school when I see them
in the morning. Also the only
time I get a chance to spend
the maximum time with my
two-and-half year old daughter.
I shower and dress and help my
wife with the kids.
8:15 AMI check my emails on my iPad
while having my breakfast. I
prefer my fi rst meal to be rich in
protein and vegetables. I avoid
sugar. My coff ee is something I
am particular about, so I brew
a strong cup to brace me for
the day – I prefer using my
old fashioned Italian stove top
espresso maker.
Over coff ee and breakfast I
discuss our plans for the day
with my wife.
8:30 AMI drive to work while listening to
the local radio station.
9:00 AMI am in offi ce at the Bayt.com
HQ in Tecom, Dubai.
9:00 – 9:30 AMBefore starting with my emails
I take a look the technical
benchmarks including the
dashboard of our system,
business and technical matrix.
9:30 – 12:00 AMI spend the fi rst few hours of
my day tackling urgent client
emails and those concerning
our online presence.
I later have a quick morning
one-on-one meeting with my
team members. I don’t doa
team huddle (we have these
once a week), so as not to end
up spending too much of my
team’s time.
12:00 – 1:00 PMI coordinate with our
development team in Amman
and with our vendors. This is
the time I usually take meeting
requests and try to fi nish them
by 1 pm
1: 00 – 2:00 PMI prefer to have lunch at home
with my wife. Sometimes over
lunch I also catch up on the latest
news in technology and business
on my iPad.
2:15 – 3:00 PMBack in offi ce I coordinate with
Rabea (our CEO) on certain
subjects concerning our
products, functions etc.
3:00 – 5:00 PMI review contracts with customers
and suppliers and I also work
on our company’s product
specifi cation documents.
5:00 – 6:00 PMAt this time I am usually on a
VoIP call/chat with Omar (our
vice president of Product) in our
Amman offi ce or in a meeting
with our other unit managers
on project execution/potentials/
challenges or I am in a meeting
with Atif (our Infrastructure
Manager) discussing our
technological acquisitions.
6:00 PM Before I leave the offi ce I make
it a point to visit certain social
bookmarking websites on
technological innovations to
keep me up-to-date on the latest
trends in my industry.
7:00 PMI am off for the day.
7:30 – 8:00 PMTime for dinner at home and
some family time. I discuss
school with my kids.
9:00 PMI usually prefer getting a little
exercise- walking is what I like to
do best.
9:30 – 11:00 PMIn case I don’t have any social
commitments I spend this part
of the evening reading – I prefer
reading online, usually political
and social commentary.
Before going to bed I go through
my emails just to make sure there
is nothing urgent that has come
up. Havens forbid, if that is the
case it will be a late night for me,
or else it is off to bed to squeeze
in my seven hours of sleep!
DAY IN THE LIFE AKRAM ASSAF – CTO- BAYT.COM
Akram Assaf from Bayt.com is a dedicated family man as well as the head of Bayt’s IT.
April
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d56
What is your current role in the ICT
industry in the Middle East and what
are your responsibilities?
I am the Director of Strategic Security
Consultancy in HelpAG Middle East. I
am involved in the consultancy services
which we provide in diff erent areas
of strategic information security, such
as implementation of international
and regional standards, preparation
for certifi cation against standards;
awareness training for information
security, tailored to the needs of
the organisation; and many other
consultancy related functions which
vary as per client requirements.
What is the best thing about your job?
My customers! My customers inspire
me by infusing so many diff erent
viewpoints and takes on information
security, business continuity and all the
other topics we are working on. These
make for engaging discussion as new
views are always like a breath of fresh
air. The link to my customer’s business
is what makes the standards real. To be
the guiding force behind the successful
implementation of standards that
deliver tangible real world benefi ts is a
great reward!
How innovative do you think the
network industry in the Middle East is
and how can it improve?
On the technical side, the Middle East
is as innovative as any other part in the
world and any diff erences are minor.
Some improvements can be made in
more strategic fi elds, where there is
still a lack of qualifi ed local experts, and
where the overall awareness still needs
to grow. Having said that, I have seen
remarkable improvements in the last
three years.
What are the upcoming trends or
products in your sector?
One of the biggest changes will be
the new ISO/IEC 27001, which is likely
to come out at September 2013. It
introduces a new structure that all
management systems will have to
follow in the future (ISO 22301, the one
for business continuity, does already
do so). The changes that have been
made to the standard aim at achieving
management systems that are both
more fl exible and effi cient.
Some changes at the local level are also
expected.
Does your company have any green
initiatives and if so, what?
We are economical in the use of
printers and share cars whenever
possible. This does have a signifi cant
impact as we all commute a lot
between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Does your company utilise
virtualisation or cloud computing?
We do not use cloud computing at the
moment, but plan to off er this service
with particular security enhancements
to our clients within this year.
Are you a BYOD user and what devices
do you use?
I am very dependent on my device for
offi ce communications and I currently
use an iPhone.
What are your out of offi ce hobbies?
I am passionate about horses and try to
go horseback riding as often as I can.
I also enjoy swimming and spending
time on boats, and I hope to get into
scuba diving as my time permits. I like
dancing, too.
What is your favourite fi lm There are
too many good ones to choose from.
Customer inspirationDr Angelika Plate director of Strategic Security Consultancy at Help AG Middle East explains her role with the company
iOS, BlackBerry or Android?
iOS
What is your favourite gadget?
My iPad
Who is your favourite band/musician?
I like reggae, salsa, pop, rock, and
classic genres. It all really boils down to
my mood at the time
What is your favourite book?
The Glass Bead Game from
Hermann Hesse
Favourite things
Does your fibre system tick all the boxes?
40G
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100GAccelerate business at the speed of light
LANmark-OF brings the best fibre technologies together to ensure maximum reliability and lowest operational cost.
Micro-Bundle cables save up to 50% trunk spaceSlimflex cords offer 7,5mm bend radius saving 30% space in patching areasPre-terminated assemblies reduce installation timeMPO connectivity enables cost efficient migration to 40/100G
OF brochure
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