Internet Security In ‘Catastrophic’ State
Posted on: Wednesday, 4 March 2009, 07:20 CST
On Tuesday, German officials warned that Internet security is in a “catastrophic” state due to the growing number of viruses, worms, and Trojan horses.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) presented a study at CeBIT, the world’s largest high-tech expo, which found that Web crime is quickly increasing even though consumers are becoming smarter about security.
"The situation is serious -- it is even more catastrophic than we feared," said Hartmut Isselhorst, BSI division chief.
"We are all being attacked. As soon as we go online we become the target of attacks."
In the study, BSI measured increases in “spam” mail, and unsolicited advertising packed with viruses.
The group also discovered that some hackers have created viruses that will work their way onto a users hard drive via popular websites.
According to Isselhorst, developments such as these have made Internet security a “constant battle” for consumers and businesses.
A recent poll by BITKOM, a high-tech lobby group, found that computer users were often careless when protecting themselves. Nineteen percent of those polled had not installed anti-virus software, while 45 percent went without firewalls to protect against unauthorized access.
In a poll of over 1000 Germans, one-fourth of Internet users in Europe’s largest economy decline to shop online due to security concerns, while one-fifth refuse to book travel related items on the web.
One-third of those polled said they had suffered from financial losses to due poor online security.
Isselhorst warned against excessive information sharing on social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, saying the sites are often easy for cyber-criminals to exploit.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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