South Africa may well face a change in crime when Internet access becomes more accessible, says Edward Gibson, Microsoft's chief security officer, and ex-FBI agent.
Speaking to ITWeb yesterday, at the start of Microsoft's Partner Summit, in Durban, he said SA's famed ATM bombings are not unique to the country. "A similar method was used in the UK, where the ATMs were pulled out of the frames."
According to Gibson, these kinds of physical crimes for cash took a downturn in favour of online crime, when the bandwidth became more accessible in the UK.
Analysts predict that SA's bandwidth capacity will double with just the addition of the fibre cables being placed by several local telecommunications providers, which will make access cheaper and more available.
While Gibson has not actively studied the local security environment, he said the company is making every effort to ensure countries, which have yet to experience the kinds of online crime created by freely available bandwidth, have top-notch software and operating system security.
"When SA gets its broadband, there will need to be a large amount of education on security, or you will be compromised."
Path of least resistance
He said criminals will always find the easiest path to criminality, and the Internet is an ideal path.
However, Gibson noted it will be up to software providers, like Microsoft, to ensure they do whatever they can to secure operating systems and the online environment. "When I came to Microsoft, we had a lot of work to do on our security side."
Gibson pointed out that Microsoft Windows Vista is the culmination of years of security work, which he believes has paid off. "I think we have done a great job on Vista. There has still been no meaningful compromise of the security built into the operating system."
According to Gibson, Microsoft has a new approach to security, which includes watching various list servers, which he still accesses from his FBI days. He said the company now takes a proactive approach to crime, sending out updates before any major breach can occur.
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