Acunetix puts a stop to identity theft in Universities

American Universities and Non-Profit-Organizations to benefit from a Free Website Security Audit offered by Acunetix

Kirkland, Washington – January 10, 2007 – Institutions for higher education and Not-For-Profit Organizations are experiencing a surge in attempts aimed at hacking their data. The more recent known examples were perpetrated against UCLA, the University of Texas, and Mississippi State University. Acunetix, a leading vendor of web application security solutions, is offering all American Universities and Not-for-profit Organizations a complimentary website audit through its recently launched service, Acunetix SiteAudit.

Last month, a hacker infiltrated a massive database from the University of California, Los Angeles, containing personal information (including social security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses and contact information) on 800,000 people in one of the worst computer breaches ever at a US university.

“There is a general lack of awareness about web application security,” stated K. J. Vella, VP Sales and Operations at Acunetix. “Organizations, in general, do not realize if your web apps are weak, hackers will find a way to get in and steal your data. What makes the situation worse is that you’ll never know they’ve been in. Hackers will not leave a trail, your data will still remain there but a copy of it resides in its entirety elsewhere either for immediate sale or for later use.” “Buyers could use the data to fraudulently apply for cell phones, credit cards or to launch cyber terrorist attacks. Whichever the aim, organizations are duty-bound to protect the data entrusted them,” explained Vella.

University systems are usually highly decentralized which makes it hard to ensure tight security. Furthermore, Not-for-profit organizations might not have the in-house expertise needed to run auditing software efficiently and effectively, nor want to maintain in-house testing since this adds to overhead.

Acunetix is, therefore, offering the possibility of having their website audited at no cost.

“SiteAudit normally retails for $395. We are now offering Universities and Not-for-Profit Organizations the opportunity to get their website and web applications checked by one of the leading solutions found on the market place today for free. Our web security experts will audit a website and issue a full report,” explained Vella.

About Acunetix SiteAudit

Acunetix SiteAudit is performed by Acunetix’s web security experts using Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner. Acunetix SiteAudit:

* Provides an immediate and comprehensive website security audit
* Ensures website is secure against web attacks
* Checks for SQL injection, Cross site scripting and other vulnerabilities
* Audits shopping carts, forms, and dynamic content
* Scans entire website and web applications including Javascript / AJAX applications for security vulnerabilities.

More information about Acunetix SiteAudit is available at: http://www.acunetix.com/site-audit/.

How to apply

Universities and Non-Profit-Organizations can apply for a free site audit by visiting http://www.acunetix.com/site-audit/us-universities.htm or by sending an email to siteaudit@acunetix.com, including general contact details and website URL.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About Acunetix
Acunetix was founded to combat the alarming rise in web attacks. Its flagship product, Acunetix Web Vulnerability Scanner, is the result of several years of development by a team of highly experienced security developers. Acunetix is a privately held company with headquarters based in Europe (Malta), a US office in Seattle, Washington and an office in London, UK. For more information about Acunetix, visit: http://www.acunetix.com; http://www.acunetix.de.

For more information:
Please email Tamara Borg: tamara@acunetix.com
Acunetix Ltd: Tel: 888-231-6801, Fax: (+1) 425-650-6873
URL: http://www.acunetix.com.

This release was published on openPR.