Cyber Costs
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Posted On :
Mar-12-2011
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Article Word Count :
406
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The words 'cyber warfare' appears to be everywhere at the moment. With the recent high-profile Stuxnet attack, and cyber attacks on a range of government departments across the world, many experts have claimed that we are heading into a new era of warfare.
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The words 'cyber warfare' appears to be everywhere at the moment. With the recent high-profile Stuxnet attack, and cyber attacks on a range of government departments acrossthe world, many experts have claimed that we are heading into a new era of warfare.
Some critics, on the other hand, claim that this couldn't be more distant from reality. It is argued that a number of the IT companies who are warning of the danger of cyber warfare are those who stand to profit most should governments around the world resolve to take concerted action.
Additionally, many critics believe that there is a group of countries which already have the cyber version of atomic weaponry (and the group is believed to be pretty the same as those who have actual nuclear capability) and the likelihood of them engaging in a war of mutual cyber extinction seems pretty remote.
A report released in February, on the other hand, suggests that in the UK cyber crime is a genuinely pressing issue. Over £25bn was lost to the economy only in 2010 as a result of cyber theft, and with law enforcement agencies struggling to get a grip on the problem that sum looks set to climb higher.
One of the problems when it comes to cyber criminals is that the individuals who commit such crimes often have hardly any fear of being prosecuted, and with good reason. Despite enormous amounts of money being lost in cyber crime cases, so far there have been surprisingly few actual convictions.
Yet another handicap is that many of the businesses that have been targeted by cyber criminals are loathe to admit it for fear of negative publicity. Accordingly a proportion of cyber theft is going undetected.
On the plus side for customers is that of that £27bn, only a tiny percentage was perpetrated against individuals (many consumers judge that online banking is a significant risk) and banks have taken first class steps to protect themselves. Additionally, if you have broadband through a top class supplier like Sky, you may discover that they build in protection measures for you.
Cyber theft, and cyber war, might appear like the subject of science fiction, but they are a genuine issue at the moment and something that we, as consumers, should be wary of. That said, if you're careful and have up-to-date anti-virus software, it's unlikely you will have an issue.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_Cyber Costs_55693.aspx
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Author Resource :
James Harrington is a freelance technology writer and comments regularly on telecommunications. He recommends Sky for excellent broadband deals.
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Keywords :
broadband deals, broadband, broadband offers,
Category :
Communications
:
Broadband Internet
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