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Internet security in the UK rated among the best in Europe

Matt Thomas — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:11:05 +0000

After all the recent drama regarding internet safety and the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser hacking debacle it is refreshing to hear news that the internet security in the UK is rated as one of the best in Europe.

This week, the House of lord’s committee have found that the internet security that surrounds the United Kingdoms critical national infrastructure is one of the best in the whole of Europe.

In a statement they revealed that all of the essential UK utilities such as government systems and of course banking are very well setup to cope with any natural disasters or cyber attacks that may occur.

Whilst this announcement is extremely good news for the UK the findings of the House of Lords committee were not all positive. They also found that many of the other systems in the EU, especially those in less developed countries in Eastern Europe, had extremely vulnerable internet infrastructures that if attacked could have an unforeseeable knock on effect to our systems here in the UK, according to Lord Jopling, chairman of the committee.

In the cyber-world, an attack on one country can affect another,” Jopling said. “Some countries are not as well prepared as the UK, and here we see a role for the EU to play in bringing up countries with deficiencies to the level of the UK.”

So we are safe if any attack is made on us but lets all cross our fingers that no where in Eastern Europe suffers from a cyber attack, when they sneeze, we may catch a cold.

Demon internet emails your details to… Everyone

Jenny Sanderson — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:01:26 +0000

Demon Internet has become involved in an embarrassing security failure after a spreadsheet containing the personal details of more than 3’600 account holders was sent to customers as an attachment on an email. The customers who found their information was compromised were on the company’s paperless billing system, one of the purposes of which is, ironically, to increase security.

The details revealed included business names, home and work addresses, telephone numbers, as well as usernames and passwords. Luckily for Demon, no bank or payment details were on the spreadsheet though troublingly, information on NHS trusts and police stations was included.

To their credit, once they realised the mistake, Demon acted quickly, isolating the affected group of customers and changing their use names and passwords. However, this may not be enough for them to escape the inevitable backlash.

With this no doubt in mind, the company released a statement in which they “confirm categorically that no customer accounts were accessed inappropriately during this time.” They also promised a review of all processes and procedures.

Cloud Computing: Security Question Marks

James Oliver — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:17:24 +0000

Federal regulators met in Washington yesterday to discuss security concerns surrounding cloud computing, the technology that would allow personal files and folders to be stored on remote servers as opposed to individual hard drives.

Proponents claim that the technology would allow for far greater efficiency in terms of the storing of information. However, privacy activists have raised questions over the implications of people’s personal data being stored on remote servers outside of their control.

The two day meeting of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is aimed at ascertaining whether or not implementing cloud computing would be worth the increased regulation of server providers that would no doubt be required to guarantee the security of users’ information.

The meeting follows a series of other meetings of its type relating other risks or concerns regarding internet users. Subjects such as spam and behavioural targeting have been discussed previously. It’s all part of the FTC’s attempts to get serious about dealing with the issues raised by the new digital economy.

Deputy Director, Hugh Stephenson summed up the situation nicely, stating, “We need to be smarter about dealing with technology, and cloud computing is posing (a) risk for us.”

Tiscali on the Rocks

James Oliver — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:00:24 +0000

Tiscali have become the latest technology company to run into recession related trouble after their stock plummeted 40 per cent earlier this week. This drop has left the company’s valuation floundering at a pitiful €100 million Euros.

The company is heavily in debt and, by its own admission, needs a serious restructuring drive in order to survive. This is all a big change from last week when they had been hoping to wipe their debts completely by selling their UK business to BSKYB. Unfortunately for Tiscali, that deal fell through and any remaining faith that investors had in the company evaporated, leading to this week’s catastrophic share-price drop.

The troublesome Tiscali debts amount to about €500 million Euros, that’s made up of two €50 million credit facilities and a €400 million loan. All told, it amounts to five times the company’s current market value. You don’t have to be an economist to know that’s not good.

Tiscali’s downfall could be bad news for many UK internet users. Tiscali provides broadband to around 1.7 million UK customers after growing through their acquisition on Pipex broadband.

Trading in shares of the Italian company was suspended in Milan on Monday.