Personal and commercial information is the new commodity of choice for the virtual thief, argues Adrian Leppard, Commissioner for City of London Police.
He says: “It is the security of information in all its forms which presents one of the key challenges. Personal and commercial information is the new commodity of choice for today’s virtual thief. For the article in full click here.
“A new global market exists where stolen information is traded as a precursor element to commit fraud. Importantly only a portion of this is being stolen through technical attack of IT system, the rest is literally walking out the door through the risk posed by the ‘insider’ threat.”
Commissioner Leppard highlights the current threat levels to companies, pointing out that the motivation behind such cyber attacks can vary from straight monetary gain, to geo-political warfare to the archetypal lone hacker looking to make mischief from his bedroom.
He also points out the positive steps being taken by Government to better protect public and private sector organisations, but emphasises the need for businesses to take responsibility for putting their own houses in order.
“Good practice is available, but to get this right requires a shift of approach in terms of governance, starting at the very top. The first is the recognition that the whole organisation has to be involved – every department, every person, every process.
“This cannot be converted into an action plan and a series of tick boxes and discharged or delegated to someone else’s responsibility. It will need resourcing and managing carefully and intrusively. The only way for this to be managed effectively is through a series of governance processes that start with the chief executive and involvement of the board.
And to make sure your business is cyber secure? Simple, get someone to try and steal from you.
“Success in terms of cyber security is simply this. Your information is secure. Whilst governance and compliance with known standards are an excellent means of achieving this, it is not in itself the answer. The only way you can be certain your information is secure, is by asking someone to try and steal it.”
For the article in full visit the City of London Police website.
