wnp@relay.eu.net (wolf paul) (10/20/90)
Vienna's DER STANDARD reports the following in its Oct. 19, 1990 issue (by Hans-Juergen Maurus, summarized in English w/o permission by Wolf Paul): Five UK banks are being blackmailed by a loosely-knit group of computer hackers, but have not paid any ransom so far. According to London's "Independent on Sunday" the hackers succeeded in penetrating the computer systems of the banks. Experts speak of the most serious breach of computer security in the "City" in years. The penetrations started this past May, and included both the theft of information as well as sabotage and the introduction of falsified information, and are one more indication of a rise in computer crime in London's financial center. One expert called the expertise of the unknown hackers (who seem to operate independently although they are aware of each other) "truly frightening". The banks affected have not called in the police, for fear of adverse publicity which could damage their reputation. Instead, they are relying on the services of Network Security Management, a subsidiary of Hambros Bank, to uncover the culprits. Experts are astonished at the ease with which highly complex systems like these can be penetrated. Since most banks no longer could function without these computer systems, the fear of a major hacker attack is great. Experts say that most bank employees hardly understand the systems they are working with, and are certainly incapable of detecting unauthorized access. Detective Superintendent Don Randell of Scotland Yard who specializes in computer crime says that many businesses are extremely careless in their approach to computer security. Losses due to computer crime in the UK alone are estimated at approximately 2,5 billion Pounds to date; since only about one third of cases are being reported by the victims, the real damage may well be considerably higher. Wolf N. Paul, IIASA, A - 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe PHONE: +43-2236-71521-465 FAX: +43-2236-71313 UUCP: uunet!iiasa.at!wnp INTERNET: wnp%iiasa.at@uunet.uu.net BITNET: tuvie!iiasa!wnp@awiuni01.BITNET