Cyber Crime

The phrase 'cyber warfare' seems as if it is ubiquitous at present. With the recent shocking Stuxnet virus, and hacking attempts on a number of government buildings acrossthe globe, many respected authorities have argued that we are heading into a different type of warfare.

Some critics, on the other hand, believe that this couldn't be more distant from reality. It is argued that several of the IT companies who are talking up the threat of cyber warfare are those who could benefit more than any other should governments around the globe resolve to take concerted action.

Further, many people believe that there is a group of countries which already have the cyber version of nuclear weaponry (and the group is thought to be pretty the same as those who possess actual nuclear weaponry) and the possibility of them becoming engaged in a war of mutual cyber extinction is very remote.

Research released last month, however, suggests that in Britain cyber crime is a genuinely concerning issue. Over £25bn was taken out of the exchequer only in 2010 on the back of cyber crime, and with investigators struggling to get a grip on the threat that figure looks likely to rise.

One of the problems in regards to cyber theft is that the people who commit such felonies often have little fear of getting prosecuted, and with good reason. In spite of the enormous quantities of money] being lost in cyber crime cases, so far there have been genuinely few actual prosecutions.

One more problem is that many of the companies who have been struck by cyber criminals are reluctant to admit it for fear of negative PR. As a result a large amount of cyber theft is going uninvestigated.

The good news for consumers is that of that £27bn, but a rather limited fraction was perpetrated against individuals and banks (many people judge that online banking is a significant risk) have taken excellent steps to protect themselves. In addition, if you have broadband through a top class supplier like Sky, you may discover that they add in protection measures for you.

Cyber crime, and cyber weaponry, might remind you of the matter of science fiction, but they are a genuine threat at present and something that we, as consumers, should be concerned about. That said, if you're careful and have up-to-date anti-virus programmes, it's unlikely you will have an issue.

By: David Andrews

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James Harrington is a freelance technology writer and comments regularly on telecommunications. He recommends Sky for your unlimited broadband.