Companies Vulnerable to Attacks by Net Hackers: Experts Warn of Lax Security

Canadian companies are woefully unprepared for computer and Internet attacks, says a national security consultant. Internet security attack attempts in North America increased by 450 per cent in March and more than 800 Web sites were defaced in one week alone by hackers protesting the U.S.-led war against Iraq. And Claudiu Popa, a Toronto-based security consultant, said Canada continues to be in the top three most popular target countries for hackers. She said attacks on local servers have increased by more than 1,000 per cent over the same month last year, accounting for more than $36 million in damages. “I wouldn’t say that Canadian companies are sitting ducks, because there exist ‘pockets of awareness,’ unfortunately that’s mostly due to ‘worrying’ rather than actual information sharing and preparation,” said Popa. “Not only is the structure not in place to handle internal or external attacks in most organizations, but the processes to react to breaches are non-existent, which makes for a very volatile situation.” Full Story