Cyber attack

The hackers are gaining virtual ground in cyberspace while more than 60 per cent of information technology managers fail to appreciate the threat that they pose according to a recent survey by Concentric, an English cybercrime detection company. Even major companies which can afford the latest in sophisticated fire-wall defences are not immune as evidenced by a recent attack on Visa International. The credit card company has confirmed that its security was breached last July and that it contacted Scotland Yard and the FBI. It is believed that the intruders stole computer code and issued a multi-million pound ransom demand last month with the threat that they would crash the system in the absence of payment. Any interruption to the business that operates 800 million cards globally and facilitated transactions worth nearly US$1.4 trillion in 1998 would be disastrous. A spokesman for Visa said that once the demand was received the company secured the system and unauthorised entry did not recur. Scotland Yard’s computer crime unit is currently studying e-mails sent between known hackers in England and Scotland and is believed to have interviewed at least one individual in connection with the incursion.