One of the greatest fears of any business relates to the ability
of hackers and ex-staff to obtain access to their computer systems,
steal their intellectual property and cause significant commercial
damage. I recently attended a conference in Washington on
electronic communications and large parts of the sessions were
dedicated to the issue of cyber security.
Presentations were given by the FBI, Homeland Security and CIA
who all confirmed the prevalence of cyber-attacks. One notable
point was that many attacks are not directed at the central systems
of businesses. Hackers have found that these systems are often
quite well protected by firewalls. The attacks, however, are
directed at peripheral apparatus – laptops, mobile access
devices and remote access computers. Hackers have found that these
devices are far less protected and once infiltrated provide a clear
and open line to the central business.
