Interpol calls for corporate help

The head of Interpol admitted last week that police do not have the money or skills to fight cyber crime, and called on corporates to help.

The head of Interpol admitted last week that police do not have the money or skills to fight cyber crime, and called on corporates to help.

Interpol secretary general Raymond Kendall said at the Internet Defence Summit: "We cannot afford to engage the technology, technicians and research resources necessary to find quick solutions to a relatively new phenomenon." He called on the private sector to flex its research budgets and to implement security in their networks.

The summit gathered more than 100 officials from the private sector, government and law enforcement to brainstorm about ways to fight cyber crime.

Richard Stagg, senior security architect at Information Risk Management, said there is a lot the private sector can do: "If companies were more diligent in their security, hackers would not find an easy entrance to the net. Hackers randomly scan companies to find an insecure machine that can become a Zombie, a location to hack from without being traced.

"Most companies, once they realise they're being hacked, don't know what to do to stop it or preserve evidence. It would help to have a central telephone number like 999, to call out an experienced response team while the hacker is still logged on and can be traced."