| Viruses and worms: a real business continuity threat CERT Coordination Center director Richard Pethia has given a detailed testimony before a US government committee. In a presentation entitled ‘Viruses and worms: what can we do about them?’ Mr Pethia outlined the growing threat that computer viruses and worms pose to businesses and to critical infrastructures. The testimony was given before the House Committee
on Government Reform Mr. Pethia highlighted the scale of the problem, showing the changes in infection patterns over recent years. He used statistics related to the recent Blaster and Sobig.F worms to support his case. He stated that, so far, damages from Blaster are estimated to be at least $525 million, and Sobig.F damages are estimated to be from $500 million to more than one billion dollars. The cost estimates include lost productivity, wasted hours, lost sales, and extra bandwidth costs. “My most important message is that the
Internet is not only vulnerable to attack today, but it will stay
vulnerable to attack in the foreseeable future,” said Mr.
Pethia. “With more and more government and private sector
organisations increasing their dependence on the Internet, our ability
to carry on business reliably is at risk.”
•Date:
12th September 2003 • Region: N.America •Type:
Article •Topic: ISM
|
