Several hot topics of the recent 2009 RSA Europe Conference in London include social computing, the growth of mobile applications, cloud computing, and data center virtualization—and there's a good reason for that. These so-called trends in modern-day computing could very well redefine the way IT security is handled in the near future.

Experts and specialists in the computer security field are very eager to embrace these developments and take the chance to integrate better security principles into the information infrastructure. At any rate, RSA is currently recommending several relevant guidelines that cover the important factors needed in order to build a quality IT security strategy within this new century's ever-changing security situation. They are:

• Embedding security protocols into the IT infrastructure: Integration just doesn't cut it anymore when it comes to linking your security protocols with your IT infrastructure. Nothing less than embedding them together is needed in order to achieve optimum protection against common information pitfalls. This is why Cisco and RSA have teamed together in order to embed data loss prevention into gadgets like the Cisco IronPort email security gateway. Many other companies are following suit as well.

• Develop content-aware, correlated security controls: Centralizing security information (which is the approach that the EMC Critical Incident Response Center has employed) can help a lot in correlating data from infrastructure controls (e.g. vulnerability, configuration, and patch management systems), identity controls (e.g., risk-based authentication), and information controls (e.g. data loss prevention). This method allows analysts to quickly distinguish between benign and dangerous security events.

• Implement seamless, transparent security: The secret behind seamless, transparent security lies with a streamlined security process that leaves little to no room for error. For example, First Data and RSA recently announced plans on implementing a payment card data service that doesn't require merchants to manually store credit card information within IT systems. The simpler a process is, the easier it is to tell if it's compromised or not.

• Solution Ecosystems: Creating entire security solution ecosystems allows individuals and corporations to work together as a community in order to tackle common security dilemmas. The RSA eFraudNetwork is a good example of a security ecosystem that functions via the cooperation of thousands of institutions and organizations across the world.