Protecting delegates and companies at the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development will have to go much further than a well organised police force. South African networks may well come under attack, as groups and protestors from across the globe focus on this country.
Recent studies conducted by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI found 90% of responding international companies faced a cyber attack last year.
However, Enterasys regional director (sub-Saharan Africa), Martin May says what is of more concern is that there was a marked increase in attacks on companies involved in the provision of critical infrastructure such as electricity and water.
The seventh annual Computer Crime and Security Survey found 70% of utility companies surveyed had experienced a severe attack in the first half of 2002, compared to 57% in the previous period of 2001.
While South Africa has not yet experienced the severity of cyber attacks our international counter parts have, May warns that the World Summit kicking off on 26 August will catapult local companies and agencies onto the radar screen of international protest groups, including hackers.
"Meetings leading up to the Summit have had their fair share of protest groups disrupting proceedings, but everyone is waiting for the big event. The challenges facing organisers goes well beyond having suitably trained police and emergency services. We must be aware of the threat to facilities such as power, telecommunications, and other basic infrastructure," warns May.
The security survey conducted by BMI-T and released early in July this year points to South Africa`s apparent lag in both security spend as well as security management.
The Survey found that most local companies spend only between 1% and 10% of their budget on IT security, and exhibit a marked lack of awareness when it came to managed security.
"IP security VPN`s and firewalls are all good and well, but intrusion detection has often been neglected. Companies need to bridge the functionality gap between high-end enterprise security systems and network managed platforms by delivering system-level control to all applicable network functions," says May.
May also warns that having adequately trained staff to oversee the systems will be paramount if companies wish to avoid costly and potentially damaging cyber attacks.
"This goes far beyond protecting delegates against protestors. Invaluable data will be flooding into our country`s networks and we have to protect that. More than that, we have to make sure we are prepared for virtual attacks on the country`s utility infrastructure. This is South Africa`s chance to show we are capable of hosting a world-class event smoothly and without interruption, but we have to be aware of the possible threats and make sure we have the necessary protection in place."
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