Joint action needed to beat the computer hackers
Source: Agencies |
June 14, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
GOVERNMENTS, multinational corporations and global institutions are losing the battle against computer hackers and must combine their resources if they are to lock out cyber intruders, experts say.
The International Monetary Fund has joined Sony and Google on a growing list of hacking victims but it is hard to identify culprits who manage to keep one step ahead of their pursuers.
"This is an example of technology developing faster than the frameworks and sometimes the regulations around that," said Unilever chief executive Paul Polman on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Jakarta.
Cyber security experts say the only way to combat the menace is for the public and private sectors to join forces and combine greater regulation with international action.
"Clearly we are losing the battle," said Vijay Mukhi, one of India's leading cyber security experts. "Every year we hope things will change but now people like me have turned cynical. It requires cooperation on a global scale," he said.
The growing complexity and seriousness of cyber attacks has begun to break down some of the stigma of being a victim and firms, government and organizations are realizing they must work together.
"There has been a real change," said John Bassett, senior fellow for cyber security at London's Royal United Services Institute and a former senior official at Britain's intelligence agency GCHQ. "There is much more awareness of the threat and organizations are much more open about the attacks they face."
Experts such as Alexander Klimburg, said the attempt to steal sensitive information from the IMF was a chance for all sides to come together to confront a common menace. "This is potentially a great opportunity to launch a 'communal' investigation into an attack on a 'communal' institution," said Klimburg, a cyber security specialist at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.
With the volume of data stored online increasing each year, some specialists say the problem is escalating out of control.
While some campaigners fear giving governments greater control of the Internet would undermine privacy, others say that same privacy is already being undermined by both criminal and state-linked hackers.
The International Monetary Fund has joined Sony and Google on a growing list of hacking victims but it is hard to identify culprits who manage to keep one step ahead of their pursuers.
"This is an example of technology developing faster than the frameworks and sometimes the regulations around that," said Unilever chief executive Paul Polman on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Jakarta.
Cyber security experts say the only way to combat the menace is for the public and private sectors to join forces and combine greater regulation with international action.
"Clearly we are losing the battle," said Vijay Mukhi, one of India's leading cyber security experts. "Every year we hope things will change but now people like me have turned cynical. It requires cooperation on a global scale," he said.
The growing complexity and seriousness of cyber attacks has begun to break down some of the stigma of being a victim and firms, government and organizations are realizing they must work together.
"There has been a real change," said John Bassett, senior fellow for cyber security at London's Royal United Services Institute and a former senior official at Britain's intelligence agency GCHQ. "There is much more awareness of the threat and organizations are much more open about the attacks they face."
Experts such as Alexander Klimburg, said the attempt to steal sensitive information from the IMF was a chance for all sides to come together to confront a common menace. "This is potentially a great opportunity to launch a 'communal' investigation into an attack on a 'communal' institution," said Klimburg, a cyber security specialist at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.
With the volume of data stored online increasing each year, some specialists say the problem is escalating out of control.
While some campaigners fear giving governments greater control of the Internet would undermine privacy, others say that same privacy is already being undermined by both criminal and state-linked hackers.
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