Asian Hacking of the UK: A New Industry? (moved from ATSNN), page 1

The National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre has begun to issue warnings of increased hacker attacks on the UK, originating from Asia. While the majority of attacks are on Government networks, it was noted that individuals and companies were also in danger. While hacking is not a new threat, the increase to an almost "industrial" scale of hacking has never been seen before.

www.guardian.co.uk
Hackers in Asia are targeting UK government and company computer networks in an attempt to steal valuable information, an official agency warned today.
The National Infrastructure Security Coordination Centre (NISCC) issued one of its most high-profile warnings about the sophisticated attacks, which it said were targeting parts of Britain's "critical national infrastructure."

"While the majority of the observed attacks have been against central government, other UK organisations, companies and individuals are also at risk," the NISCC - which reports to the Home Office - added.

It said determining the origin of the attacks - which have been under way for a significant period of time - was extremely difficult. The agency said it had traced IP addresses - numeric addresses assigned to internet-connected computers - in the emails back to "the far east", but did not specify any countries.

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Any organisation which values it's intellectual property would be wise to take higher security precautions. In the age where movies can be downloaded off the internet on their day of release, the issue of intellectual property theft is not going to be resolved easily.

Outside of the obvious security issues, it presents a worrying problem to companies in the business of entertainment. When, as with Valve and Half-Life 2 last year, a couple of years work is stolen from what you thought was a secure location, the attack can be disheartening as well as financially damaging.

Threats to both the gaming, movie and music industries call for smarter technology and layers more of security. The entertainment industry may bemoan the current situation, but security service companies on the Internet are sure to be smiling.

Related News Links:
www.webpronews.com
business.timesonline.co.uk

[edit on 17-6-2005 by howmuchisthedoggy]

[edit on 17-6-2005 by howmuchisthedoggy]