Growing levels of cyber crime can only be tackled if technology improves, says expert
It used to be that business security was all about keeping important documents locked in a safe neatly concealed behind an oil painting – then it moved onto storing records securely in vending machine-sized cabinets.
But while the older practices used to do the trick, everyone knows that such systems are a thing of the past now, and these days the focus is on data protection as rapidly increasing volumes of information are held and processed by the virtual world.
So as criminals no longer have to break into banks or offices wearing black and white striped tops, sporting balaclavas and carrying bags labelled SWAG, the emphasis has switched to cyber security as hackers attempt to crack into various servers with armed with nothing but a plentiful supply of coffee and a souped-up laptop.
And in order to combat this growing threat of illegal activity that takes place on the web, one expert explains that technology has to improve if the problem is to be effectively tackled.
"The way we do business on the internet and use operating systems is just prehistoric. From a security point of view, there’s too much malware, there’s exploits," said Kevin Wharram, independent IT security consultant.
"Technology will have to change, operating systems will have to change – we might go more to a virtual-type environment. They’re pretty much going to have to start from scratch."
Indeed, from organisations as large as Yahoo! to small scale businesses and public health departments having experienced problems protecting data, it appears that the world has to adapt in order to deal with the changing nature of IT efficiently.
Whether it’s backing up files online securely and encrypting the documents, or implementing computer programs that can highlight and combat any cyber attacks, it could be that businesses start making more security conscious changes in the coming years.