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Why Security Is Becoming More and More Important In the IT Area
Exponential rise of computer crime
As the renowned New York Times reported, computer crime grew worldwide exponentially in the last years. Each year, damages caused by computer crime amount to millions or even billions of dollars. The malefactors are external hackers as well as the own employees.1
The own employees are the biggest source of risk
About a third of all security breaches in the IT area are caused by the own employees. This share rises to about the half in large companies.2
"Thieves are not just diverting cash from company bank accounts [...]. They are pilfering valuable information like business development strategies, new product specifications or contract bidding plans and selling the data to competitors."1 |
Threats caused by humans are those with the highest growth rates, especially the following cases:3
- hacking (vandalism, probing, abuse, ...)
- unauthorized access, theft of information, and industrial espionage
- error and carelessness of the own employees
- sabotage
- manipulation for personal enrichment
A sharp increase in the number of attacks like hacking, espionage, sabotage, etc., is forecasted for the future.3
This internal aspect of IT security is often neglected because many companies do not expect that some of their employees may possess criminal motives. Often already human curiosity or ignorance alone is sufficient to cause severe damage to a company. The majority of those people that are spying out, manipulating, or erasing data are own employees. The reasons for such misconduct can be troubles with managers or colleagues, discontentment with the position or the salary, etc.
Additional legal requirements
Governments worldwide are imposing new legal requirements on companies, especially on those which are listed on a stock exchange. The new regulations have the goal to increase the trust in information for external people and to make the companies responsible for any manipulation of information. The US-American Sarbanes-Oxley-Act is an example of such a new law. These additional legal requirements make it even more important for companies to improve their information security.
Damages can be fines and negative effects on corporate reputation
If the risks of computer crime and the legal requirements are not taken seriously, the following damages can result:3
- negative effects on corporate reputation
- violation of laws, regulations, or contracts
- financial damage
- work interruptions
- damage of third parties and claims of liability
- violation of internal policies
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1 Tedeschi, Bob: "Crime Is Soaring in Cyberspace", in: New York Times, 01/27/2003.
2 PriceWaterhouseCoopers: Information Security Breaches Survey 2002.
3 KES/KPMG Security Study 2002.
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