Companies told to invest more in computer security
Companies told to invest more in computer security
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian firms have been told to spend more on protecting their
computer systems now that information technology plays a pivotal
role in businesses.
BT Bellua Asia Pacific information security consultant Jim
Geovedi said the current state of cyber security in Indonesia was
at an alarming level.
"The main cause is the system management that is adopted from
overseas but is not adapted to the local culture. Security
challenges are especially high for middle level-up businesses,"
Geovedi told a conference that concluded on Thursday.
He said viruses and other malicious programs spread through
the internet were now far more advanced than those in previous
years.
Emmanuel Gadaix, founder of the Telecom Security Task Force
firm, agreed, saying there were no longer "closed environments"
even in banking that were immune from attacks.
"The increasing complexity of telecommunications
infrastructure with the advent of the internet and
telecommunication systems leads to many further opportunities for
attackers. The banks used to be closed environments, but this
isn't really the case any more," he said.
The Singapore Internet Research Center, an internet security
research firm, has predicted the world would need to spend at
least US$2.4 billion on computer security spending in the coming
three years, almost a three-fold increase from $901 million in
2003.
Some 40 experts and computer security consultants took part in
the conference sponsored by Bellua Asia Pacific.
Another speaker, Phil Leifermann, said a "reactive" approach,
in which an organization fights an attack once it occurs, was no
longer effective to secure a computer system.
He added that development in IT has put an organization or
company at risk of attacks on its computer system as it enables
it to communicate and exchange information with other parties.
"Technology increases capabilities as well as risks that are
higher compared to five to 10 years ago. We need an enterprise
security management approach, in which security issues are first
addressed at the management level through policy development," he
said.
It may require a significant amount of organizational changes
and money to implement the new approach at the start, he said,
but the return on investment could be cheaper than trying to fix
the system when it breaks down.
Geovedi predicted Indonesia might need up to 30 years to reach
the standard of the United States today, but asserted that
efforts must be exhausted for the sake of security. (005)