Press Release: 18 November 2005

No easy fix for IT security

Companies of all sizes need to address the problem of IT security, and have a responsibility to protect themselves from cybercrime. This was the message firmly delivered to delegates at "Hackers, Crackers & Cybercops", an event held on 17 November 2005 during ict forum wales 2005.

Chris Corcoran, Detective Superintendant of North Wales Police, and Chair of the E-Crime Wales initiative warned that companies must not adopt the "it won't happen to me" attitude. Corcoran stated that businesses need to see through the jargon and think in terms of crime - be it fraud, theft or pornography - carried out in a new way using technology.

Clive Harper of Securion agreed that technology provides criminals with new tools to carry out crime. Harper said that SMEs have to face up to the challenge that a lack of time, resources and finance can make them more vulnerable to attack. "Security is hard," he told delegates, "there is no easy fix."

To illustrate this point, Harper expanded on the threats to business via a hacking demonstration. Delegates could immediately see various attacks taking place and ways in which attackers can exploit vulnerabilities.

Following the sobering demonstration, Harper told delegates, "If an attacker can run programmes on your computer, it isn't your computer anymore."

Tony Neate of the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit reinforced the point that old crimes are being committed with new tools, but that technology has brought with it new crimes, such as phishing scams and hacking. Sharing his experience, Neate said that the majority of attacks on business were carried out from the inside, to gain money.

Neate said that a lack of general awareness about basic IT security has driven the Get Safe Online campaign, which launched in October with government and industry support, and he urged delegates to use the new website for their own protection.

Lee Fisher of Morgan Cole gave delegates the legal and intellectual property perspective on cybercrime. He said that businesses need to make themselves aware of the value of their data and put policies in place regarding employee use and abuse. With statistics showing that in the last six months alone some 63,315 mobile phones, 5,838 PDAs and 4,973 laptops have been left in London taxis, Fisher concluded in saying that security policies must include physical assets and staff rules.

Clive Harper of Securion returned to run a Security Policy Workshop, taking delegates through the process from initial assessment to protection and evaluation. Harper underlined the points from his earlier presentation saying that achieving 100% security is impossible, but companies must instead assess what must be secured, how well it should be secured and how much time and money should be spent to do so.

While there is no easy fix for the security problem at hand, all speakers agreed that businesses must do more to educate themselves and their staff and put appropriate procedures in place to protect themselves. Ignorance is no longer an option.

The Second All Wales E-Crime Summit takes place in Llangollen on 25 January 2006. The summit will see the launch of the All Wales Manifesto, agreed at the first summit and a presentation of the three year action plan proposed to protect Wales against cybercrime. For more information visit www.wda.co.uk/ecrime.

The event was supported by E-Crime Wales and Securion and audio visual support was provided courtesy of Genero.

ict forum wales 2005 is organised by ITWales in collaboration with Swansea University and the University of Wales Bangor. The programme is supported by the Welsh Development Agency and part financed by the European Social Fund.

For further information and interviews please contact Sali Earls, ict forum wales press office, tel: 01792 513382, or email: info@itwales.com.

Useful Links:
ITWales - www.itwales.com
Welsh Development Agency - www.wda.co.uk
North Wales Police - www.north-wales.police.uk
E-Crime Wales - www.wda.co.uk/ecrime
Securion - www.securion.co.uk
National Hi-Tech Crime Unit - http://www.soca.gov.uk
Get Safe Online - www.getsafeonline.org
Morgan Cole - www.morgan-cole.com
Genero - www.genero-productions.co.uk