We are under attack !

Surprisingly the UK Government has made recent press releases about the possibility of cyber attacks against their systems.

I have worked in the IT Security space for 16 years and the possibility of attacks and espionage have always been a very real threeat. Indeed I have been called in to investigate many instances of such threats. Whether it be a virus, direct attack or intrusion they have all been very real for many years. Vigilant and responsible companies have consistently carried out the necessary measures to at least protect themselves from the majority of the well known exploits and deploy other systems to alert for suspicious network activity. They train staff and continue to review their policies on a regular basis.

Standards have been implemented to enforce and to some degree, force companies and institutions to fall in line with specific levels of security, so why should the Government assume that they were somehow immune from such attacks. This is nothing new, although it is fair to say that it has become more prevalent over recent years.

Even the phone hacking scandal making the headlines over the past year should come as no real surprise to anyone. In the late 1990's Kevin Mitnick was convicted of computer hacking and himself had cloned mobile phones. 16 years later similar crimes are still taking place. Anyone who thinks that email, mobile phone and other forms of electronic transmission are 100% secure should realise by now that this is very likely not the case.

It is all about weighing up the risks, and if the Government feel the effects of such risks could be a serious national security issue then it would be more efficient for them to review their working practices more closely. If individuals are careful to protect their personal data then it would be fair for them to expect others holding their data to be implementing the best possible systems.

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