Sustained cyber-espionage attacks are being waged on companies that play a key role in the Britain's national infrastructure, a UK cyber-defense chief has warned. The computer systems of critical businesses in the UK, such as power companies and large financial institutions, are being repeatedly probed to steal information or uncover weaknesses that could take them down.
That was the warning from Mark Oram, head of the threat and information-security knowledge department at the Center for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), the security service tasked with protecting key government and private organizations in the UK.
Speaking at the RSA Conference Europe 2008 in London, Oram said: "We see frequent attacks on organizations for the purpose of theft of property. There are known threat sponsors with known requirements looking to gather information from industry."
"The use of cyber-techniques is relatively easy, cheap and low risk in terms of being caught. Most of the time, we know the likely culprit but proving it is very difficult," said Oram.
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That was the warning from Mark Oram, head of the threat and information-security knowledge department at the Center for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), the security service tasked with protecting key government and private organizations in the UK.
Speaking at the RSA Conference Europe 2008 in London, Oram said: "We see frequent attacks on organizations for the purpose of theft of property. There are known threat sponsors with known requirements looking to gather information from industry."
"The use of cyber-techniques is relatively easy, cheap and low risk in terms of being caught. Most of the time, we know the likely culprit but proving it is very difficult," said Oram.
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