Cybercrime changing form

Friday, 25 Jan 2008. Categories: USA

Cybercriminals are increasingly changing their focus from standard targets in favour of hunting for intellectual property, it has been reported.

According to a report from KOAM-TV, the hackers attempt to gain access to the material which can then be used to gain a competitive advantage for "their own company" or alternatively "auction it off to the highest bidder".

Firms deemed to be most at risk from this new strain of cybercrime include IT, aerospace and pharmaceuticals, where patents on new strains of drugs are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

However, James Litchko, a member of the American Society of Industrial Security's IT Security Council, said that the likelihood of avoiding this occurring to your firm can be significantly reduced by abiding by some simple rules.

He advised: "Keep sensitive data off of corporate servers that can be accessed via the Internet. Some people do it just because of the convenience.

"If it doesn't need to be on the Internet, close it up. Don't even put the system on any network if you don't have to."

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Cybercrime changing form

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