Recent cyber attacks mark a watershed moment in web security

18:19 29th January 2010

The recent attacks against Google and more than 20 other organisations marked a turning point in cybersecurity because of their targeted and co-ordinated nature, a market expert has warned.

Dave DeWalt, chief executive at security group McAfee, said the cyber attacks represented the most sophisticated threat in years and could easily have been targeted at critical infrastructure.

His views emerged as a new research has found that more than 50 per cent of the world's critical infrastructure groups admit being hit by large-scale cyber attacks or infiltrations.

According to the survey by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, 29 per cent of IT security executives say that they face multiple attacks every month.

In other news, governments and multinational companies should step up their defences to prevent potential threats such as the recent Chinese attack on Google, according to the chief executive of McAfee.

"The Google attack was the most sophisticated we have ever seen with the most complex attack vectors targeting networks with commercial impact," David DeWalt was quoted as saying.

Written by Paul Davis

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