Cyber Crime Results Revealed
October 26, 2009
UK first survey revealed at Summit shows shocking state of e-Crime problem- and it’s all of our jobs to fight it.
The true scale of the threat to Welsh companies from online attackers was revealed at the e-Crime Wales Summit 09 last week at Venue Cymru, Llandudno (21 October 2009) – with experts warning businesses need to take shared responsibility to stay safe online.
The interim results of the first ever UK ‘Intrusion Detection’ report, conducted by University of Glamorgan’s Professor Andrew Blyth, show that over 25,000 potentially catastrophic attacks hit laptops placed in front of the protective firewalls of a cross-sector sample of companies in just one working week- with 48% of these attacks originating from China.
A firewall is a part of a computer system or network designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorised communications. Professor Blyth worked with the Welsh Assembly Government’s e-Crime unit to place intrusion detection systems in front of firewalls with attempted breaches reported back to a central server.
Professor Blyth said: “We wanted to take the first ever snapshot of the state of play of the volume and type of cyber-attacks on Welsh industry. The startling results only begin to hint at the clear and present dangers businesses face from online attackers, often without even knowing it.
“e-Criminals cause attacks such as the attempted hacking of passwords, probing the vulnerability on networks and spreading viruses with alarming regularity. The threat is always evolving so businesses need to stay vigilant to the latest solutions to ensure safe trading.”
Research shows e-Crime is becoming increasingly prevalent, with a benchmarking survey carried out on behalf of Welsh Assembly Government’s e-Crime Wales Unit finding that nearly a quarter of businesses had been a victim of computer-related crime in the last year.
In order to combat this threat, Wales has taken a Europe-wide lead on e-Crime prevention. Since last year’s Summit, dedicated e-Crime Officers have been appointed in each police force, a suite of free downloadable literature covering all aspects of advice, support and guidance on how to protect business critical data from online threats has been created and steps are being taken to create a European e-Crime team.
But despite the recent successes, Simon Lavin, e-Business Strategic Planner at Welsh Assembly Government and Vice-President at Brussels-based ICT body eris@ claimed the hard work was just beginning: “It’s clear the problem is here and real, no sector is safe and Professor Blyth’s work supports this. Cautious estimates put the cost to the Welsh economy at £290m annually but the truth is the scale of the problem makes it almost impossible to calculate.
“Wales has taken a lead on fighting e-Crime but it’s time we all started demanding better security from people who deal on the net. There’s no clear delineation in who should police the internet- it’s a space we all use so shouldn’t we all have some responsibility for ensuring its safety?
“While the government has taken a lead, it’s now time that businesses and consumers begin to put pressure on anyone who enjoys the freedom of the internet- including large multinationals who trade online, internet service providers or manufacturers who rely on it for logistics- to act socially responsible and ensure the net is a safe and secure place for everyone to enjoy. The consequences if this doesn’t happen could bring down industry as we’ve come to enjoy it.”
