Terrorists Targeting SMEs

As the damage done by radical, criminal and intellectually motivated hackers continues to rise, about six Billions Dollars of economic value was destroyed worldwide by overt and covert digital attacks including viruses and worms in October alone. As a result, the mi2g Intelligence Unit predicts there will be a growing requirement for Governments to intervene and to mobilise counter-attack-forces that protect economic targets and critical national infrastructure constituents on a 24/7 basis.

mi2g have discovered a new trend developing with far more damaging economic consequences. The near doubling of hacking incidents every two months in late 2002 will be shown to have shifted away from targeting government departments and agencies towards focusing principally on Small to Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) and large corporations where opportunity allows. SMEs in the UK are not securing their IT infrastructures against the increasing threat of cyber-terrorism.

The SMEs are incapable of sheltering themselves or having the budget and expertise to be able to ward off sustained digital mass attacks, which have now become a daily occurrence with widely available, automated and easy-to-use sophisticated digital attack tools. DK Matai, Chairman and CEO, mi2g said: "After four successive record breaking months in the number of overt digital attacks this year, mi2g believes that we have entered an era of sustained attacks from radicals, criminals and intellectual power zealots, who will be difficult to contain and to deal with at the consumer and small to medium size corporate level in the 21st Century. The roll out of 'always on' full broadband and wireless connectivity tilts the balance against the innocent citizens and corporations. In the years to come, government intervention to deal with 5th dimension warfare could become imperative. It is no longer a question of if but when."

mi2g works closely with government agencies and businesses to monitor computer hackers and digital terrorists.

Source: www.mi2g.com
London, UK - 11 November 2002

"SMEs in the UK are not securing their IT infrastuctures against the increasing threat of cyber-terrorism."

The British Chamber of Commerce has warned that SMEs in the UK are not securing their IT infrastructures against the increasing threat of cyber-terrorism. More than just a scare story, a recent report has found that pro-Islamic hacking groups are organising themselves to target SMEs electronically.

The British Chambers of Commerce surveyed nearly 3,000 small and medium sized businesses about computer-related crime.

Sally Low, Director of External Affairs and Policy at the BCC claims that the threat is not being taken seriously enough and has called for an increased awareness of risk among small and medium sized businesses. She said "Most businesses do not believe that they will be a target and they think their anti-virus software is sufficient. They need to invest as much as they can possibly afford in ensuring that they have adequate firewall protection in place in their company. The cost in terms of lost revenue is significant and is increasing."

Source: British Chambers of Commerce report: Using IT: Small Firms & Technology.

The message is clear. All UK SMEs need to be aware of the threat and ensure that adequate security measures are in place to protect all their business critical systems. You need to remove dangerous attachments before they enter your network. Your travelling employees need secure communications. You must protect your desktop and critical corporate servers against threats and vulnerabilities. The most effective and affordable solution is to install a hardware firewall. A firewall is a gateway between your network and the Internet. It’s purpose is to ensure only secure and appropriate data streams pass into and out of your network.

LAS Computer Services Limited has developed a partnership with WatchGuard, one of the worlds leading suppliers of security technology. For more information on security products, contact LAS Computers Services Ltd.