Broadband 'increases security risk fivefold'

While DSL gives businesses a performance boost, it also opens up a nasty can of worms, viruses and hackers – something many firms are still ignorant of. Analysts have calculated that a business running a broadband Internet connection is five times more vulnerable to a security breach than one that uses dial-up. In a report issued this week, The Yankee Group warned that many firms are upgrading to broadband without understanding that this exposes them a much greater security risk. The research company has calculated that security breaches will cost UK firms almost £2bn this year, and it believes that a significant proportion of that cost will be due to broadband. “For those using DSL, the risk of being among those affected is much higher than among dial-up users. We estimate that DSL users are at five times greater risk of being affected by a security attack,” Yankee claimed. “‘Always On’, in other words, means ‘Always Vulnerable’,” the research group added. Full Story