Cyber security: it's a war zone

Cyber security has moved beyond the IT department to impact governments, enterprises and individuals on a massive scale. Cyber security today is a war zone.

This emerged at the opening of the 8th annual ITWeb Security Summit, at the Sandton Convention Centre this morning. Addressing over 600 local business and IT security leaders, international cyber security experts outlined the changing face of cyber crime, with the warning: 'know your enemy'.

Investigative journalist and author, Misha Glenny, a specialist in cyber crime and global cyber crime networks, opened the three-day summit with an overview of global cyber crime networks today.

With the Internet now the most powerful tool for espionage and crime, "the battle for control of the Internet looks set to become a dangerous free-for-all", he said.

Glenny says the 'dark underground' of the Internet is proliferating on the back of the anonymity of the Internet, the disparities in international regulations, which make tracing and prosecuting criminals difficult, and the ease with which cyber criminals can organise their activities. A new generation of highly organised criminal organisations is using the Internet to commit mass fraud and espionage, says Glenny. There is a thriving black market trade in personal data, enterprise information and tools to commit cyber crime.

Glenny feels a battle is looming for control over the Internet. Corporate attempts and commercial espionage are proliferating, he noted, and cyber espionage has moved into state arsenals. "People are openly recruiting hackers and Trojan coders for defence and law enforcement purposes," he said.

The sophistication of cyber criminals will be a key topic under discussion during the next three days at the summit, as delegates focus on tools and techniques to mitigate the ever-growing threats against corporate networks, state utilities and global bank accounts.

While the threats posed by organised cyber crime are very real, international forensic researcher the Grugq has pointed to flaws in global hacking organisational structures. He told ITWeb Security Summit delegates that hacking organisational structures today have some areas in common with the organised criminal underworlds of the late 19th and early 20th century. Notably, both have fairly flat hierarchical structures, and both comprise individuals who work largely independently.

The Grugq assessed the counter-intelligence capabilities of today's hacker groups, saying that in general, they failed to assess their own security flaws that led to one of their own being caught, and failed to adapt their operations accordingly when one was caught. "In the long run, hackers could be doomed because their organisational skills and counter intelligence is poor," he said.

The 8th annual ITWeb Security Summit is currently taking place in Sandton. The gathering creates an opportunity for senior security professionals and business decision-makers to learn about new strategies and tactics, and hear insight and comment from leading international and local subject-matter experts.

With expert insights, interactive workshops, an expo and valuable networking, this is a must-attend event for every IT professional with a security mandate. For further information, visit www.securitysummit.co.za.