Internet Services Company Internet Central is warning local
businesses to take the threat of cyber attacks seriously as news
was announced last week that UK Government has identified cyber
attacks as one of the four biggest threats to UK security, along
with war, terrorism and natural disaster.
Cybersecurity encompasses cyber attacks against the UK,
cyberterrorism, cyber crime and the spread of viruses and worms. It
is difficult to differentiate between these sources because of the
interrelationship between protagonists. This is why we must not be
complacent.
Recent reports have highlighted that the UK's critical
infrastructure - such as power grids and emergency services - face
a "real and credible" threat of cyber attack, but Internet Central
say it is also important that all businesses take effective
measures to ensure a defence against assaults of this nature. Cyber
attacks don't discriminate on the type of business they target and
it is important that businesses don't become complacent and think
this is just a 'big business' problem.
According to Internet Central spam is now circulating in its
billions with a 500% increase on figures recorded at the start of
2009 and many businesses are seeing malicious e-mails increase
month on month with local businesses saying that they had already
seen "significant disruption" to their computer systems caused by
internet "worms" - both those that had been deliberately targeted
and others picked up accidentally. One local company experienced a
spam storm receiving a million spam emails in one minute and
paralysing their IT system leading them to contact Internet Central
for help.
Internet Central MD Maitland Hyslop comments: "Although cyber
crime is a threat to the UK, getting cyber security and protection
right enables the UK's continuing economic prosperity. It's
important to remember that by taking a few simple precautions,
online risks needn't overshadow the huge benefits that the internet
brings to businesses.
Increased demand for improved network speed, anti-spam measures
and higher security firewalls has added further drive to the growth
of our market, which is already being determined by concerns
relating to systems protection, legal liability and the requirement
to maximise network bandwidth. Businesses want to benefit from the
wealth of information on the Internet, the ability to transfer
files quickly and easily without the threats of viruses,
litigation, information theft, or lost systems that unprotected
corporate Internet access can bring.
Most people think of firewalls when it comes to security, but
what they don't realise is that the nature of threats has recently
undergone a significant change and continues to do so. Businesses
need to think of solutions that would adapt to changes in real-time
and offer enhanced features currently unavailable with standard
firewall solutions such as content filtering, and intrusion
prevention. All of which help businesses to operate more
efficiently. It is also important for businesses to think about the
key requirement of resiliency as business continuity should be high
in any company's list of IT priorities."
For more information on Internet Central view their website
here: www.internet-central.net