``Netspionage'' is the real security threat on the Net

"NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>

Tue, 12 Sep 2000 10:58:35 -0700

Teenage hackers who deface government sites or steal credit-card numbers

attract a lot of attention, but experts say the real problem of cybercrime

is corporate-sponsored proprietary information theft committed by

professionals who rarely get caught. According to the American Society for

Industrial Security, Fortune 1000 companies sustained losses of more than

$45 billion last year from thefts of proprietary information, and a survey

by the Computer Security Institute indicates over half of 600 companies

polled said they suspected their competitors were a likely source of

cyberattack. "Your competitors no longer have to be across town, or even

across the country; they're in other countries that have different laws and

business ethics," says Richard Power, who conducts the annual CSI survey.

"Culpability is much less. There is a lawless frontier in terms of theft of

trade secrets." Experts agree that while juvenile hackers often leave

calling cards enabling them to be traced, professional information thieves

are almost impossible to catch. What's even more frustrating is that many

firms never know their systems have been breached. "It's difficult for

people to see the theft of information," says the owner of a security firm.

"Information is the only asset that can be copied or stolen but nothing can

appear to be missing. You can still have the information... but have lost

the value of that information." (MSNBC, 11 Sep 2000