Cyber Secure Institute: Get serious about cybersecurity
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The threat of online attacks from cybercriminals requires stronger network security and better standards using existing technologies, warns Rob Housman, executive director of the Cyber Secure Institute.
Pointing to a recent web security report indicating that hackers have created more than 5 million new strains of malware in 2009 - 50,000 new viruses each day - Housman said businesses and individuals need to do more to protect themselves from computer bugs leading to identity theft and fraud.
"Most businesses and individuals in America are relying on systems that are inherently insecure to protect them from cybercriminals," Housman said.
It's an opportune time to be making that point, with stories of email password thefts from Hotmail and other popular email accounts making headlines. Security researchers have been raising alarms about rapidly spreading cybersecurity threats, including on social networks with millions of users.
"These networks are only as strong as their weakest link and one person's risk becomes everyone's risk," Housman said.
Because of the size of networks like Facebook - which claims more than 300 million users - hackers understand the potential for ensnaring potentially millions of computers in their botnets of infected computers.
Social networks have accelerated the spread of worms like Koobface, a malicious strand of malware that jumps form PC to PC by spreading spam and messages embedded with malicious links.
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