NEWS
Russian antivirus guru Eugene Kaspersky has hit out at some of the myths which cloud what he sees as the real issues facing the IT security industry.
Speaking to silicon.com in Moscow, the eponymous head of Kaspersky Labs said companies' own agendas and some well-worn stereotypes about cyber crime stand in the way of reasoned discussion. He also criticised those who put too much faith in stats which, taken out of context, are often dangerously misleading.
For example, headline figures for the past year put out recently by Computer Economics show the effect of cyber crime has diminished.
But Kaspersky told silicon.com: "These stats are not complete. This is often just damage to IT infrastructure not the actual costs."
If the overall economic impact has gone down, it's not because the threat has diminished but because the hackers have got cleverer and no longer seek to cause damage in the pursuit of more serious gains – such as data or identity theft and corporate espionage.
He said: "Hackers now want systems which work. They want to use these systems and there are instances now when corporate networks are badly impacted but they still work and there is no damage."
To say that kind of attack therefore has no economic value is highly dangerous, said Kaspersky, given the unquantifiable impact that data loss could have on a business.
Another issue close to his heart, which Kaspersky said needs to be addressed, is the idea that cyber crime is predominantly a Russian issue and he points the finger of blame at an old adversary in the propaganda wars. "There has been this stereotype thanks to the American press," said Kaspersky, who believes such notions have held back the fight against malware and hackers.
Kaspersky said the data he sees suggests there is more malicious code coming out of China and Latin America than Russia currently and said he finds it disappointing to see Russia the subject of so many negative headlines.
He added: "Of course in some countries there are areas of specialisation. In America for example, we see a lot of adware. That is almost entirely an American problem. Backdoors seem to be coming out of China a great deal, and from Russia we see a lot of Trojans and proxy servers. But this is a global problem."
Kaspersky said other areas of the security industry which have seen a great deal of hype - such as that which surrounds the threat of mobile phone viruses - may actually this year represent a more credible threat as more people upgrade to smart phones. Kaspersky believes hackers will become increasingly interested as such phones proliferate.
He said: "When they get cheap enough, smart phones will become a problem. It will happen sooner or later."
Comments
There are 4 comments. Join the discussion
1. Mark SPLINTER
smart phone?
i would like a "stupid phone" with alarm clock, sms and voicecalls only, monochrome display. but nobody sells it.
2. Frank Scavo
Yes, we did indicate that total 2005 economic impact from malware dropped from the 2004 numbers, but we also said that the changing nature of attacks--which Kaspersky highlights--might be causing damages to be underreported.
We wrote... " Furthermore, as the nature of malware attacks changes to covert attacks for financial gain, organizations that are specifically targeted are becoming less willing to disclose such incidents. This may be leading to an under-reporting of the category of "loss of business revenue."
Our position, actually, is very close to what Kaspersky outlines in this article.
Frank Scavo
President
Computer Economics
(Ed note. Nobody said you didn't Frank - the article is quite clear that the issue is with people who put too much faith in stats taken out of context - and not with the company producing the stats. The concern is that many people will see the headline figure - 'impact has fallen' - and assume things are getting better when potentially they are far worse.)
3. anonymous
My ideal phone would have big buttons and big letters on the display 'cause I am just a GOM who's eyesight is starting to fail (it will happen to the youngsters one of these days) but nobody makes one of those either.
4. Philip Barnett
Mark
There are phones made mostly in Asia for the young that fill your requirement exactly. That is if you dont mind it being pink and looking like a bar of soap. Otherwise find someone who didn't fall foul of the disposable society and has an old Nokia lying amongst the fluff in the bottom of a draw.