-Caveat Lector- http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/20704.html Cracking on the Rise by Craig Bicknell 2:00 p.m. 13.Jul.99.PDT Setting up shop online might open a company's door to new customers, but it also greatly boosts the odds that an uninvited guest will help himself to company secrets, according to a survey released Tuesday. The survey, published by Information Security magazine, found that companies conducting business online are 57 percent more likely to suffer leaks of proprietary information than companies that aren't on the Web. Moreover, the rate at which computer crackers are breaching corporate networks has nearly doubled in the last year, according to the 745 companies polled. "There's a real sea change in the types of breaches that e-commerce is bringing on," said Andrew Briney, Information Security's editor-in-chief. "There's been a real knee-jerk reaction, an assumption that most breaches are internal, but the biggest increase by far is coming from these external abuses." The survey polled security managers in disparate industries and covered the period from May 1998 to May 1999. Rates of increase are based on comparison to figures from a similar poll conducted last year. Security experts weren't surprised at the findings. "We can expect more problems as e-commerce gets moving," said Peter Neumann, a scientist with SRI International and a consultant to the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection. "The basic computer system and network infrastructures are very weak when it comes to security, but the incentives for serious misuse are only beginning to emerge." While it's extremely difficult to quantify the cost of security breaches -- most companies either don't know or won't share information on attacks -- the average loss of the 91 surveyed companies volunteering specific financial information was US$256,000. "It reaffirms the necessity for organizations to pay close attention to the security needs that come with doing business in the electronic world," said Briney. Ironically, the vast majority of corporate respondents to the survey said they had effectively shored up their own security problems. "They feel confident that they have the resources to handle it, but the numbers tell a different story," said Briney. Still, security experts caution that those numbers can't be taken as hard scientific evidence. While cracker attacks are indeed on the rise, said Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, the number of companies watching for security breaches is also up. Thus, a higher percentage of attacks are noted. "It's almost like when crime reporting goes up, the amount of crime seems to go up, too," said Paller. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
