UK Seeks Private Industry Help in Averting Cyber Attacks

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Iain Lobban, the head of Britain's communications intelligence agency, said that it may need to receive direct feeds of information from private companies in key economic sectors in order to better protect the UK economy from the threat from cyber attacks.

In a rare speech, Lobban, director of GCHQ since 2008, said the risks from cyber attacks were expanding along with the rise in the Internet, which was growing by 60% a year. He said UK government computer networks received more than 20,000 malicious e-mails a month, 1,000 of which deliberately targeted the networks. He said -- without citing examples -- that governments had used cyber techniques to put pressure on other countries. There had also been "theft of intellectual property on a massive scale, some of it not just sensitive to the commercial enterprises in question but of national security concern too." With the costs of e-crime probably running into the billions of pounds, he said thousands of stolen UK credit-card details are available for sale online in hacking forums for about $2 per set, he said. He cited public reports suggesting one botnet—automated software that combs websites -- stole credit-card and online banking details from up to 12.7 million victims worldwide.


UK Seeks Private Industry Help in Averting Cyber Attacks Cyber warfare already here, UK spy agency chief says (Reuters)