Emergency responders on alert for hacker attacks at Games

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=62968&sid=18033254

By Timothy Chui
The Standard
March 13, 2008

The Beijing Olympics represents too good a target for hackers to pass 
up, according to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.

Addressing the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team Conference 
yesterday, assistant government chief information officer of 
infrastructure and security John Wong Shak-chuen said the Games, as well 
as key elections in some parts of the world later this year, were being 
targeted by politically motivated hackers.

"These events frequently attract a counter culture who wish to gain 
visibility for a cause by blocking major events, thereby creating major 
embarrassment," Wong said.

In preparation for the Olympics, the emergency response team conducted a 
drill last year simulating a cyber attack to gauge coordination among 
law enforcers and to study how to reduce the impact of possible cyber 
attacks during the Games.

A Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games official last year 
suggested hacking was a potential threat to the Games.

As the image of a money-motivated hacker replaces that of the budding 
delinquent computer science teenager, local and international 
information security experts agree that safe havens for criminally 
controlled servers remain one of the biggest hurdles in tackling 
internet crime.

A senior source at the conference, who wished to remain anonymous, said 
most safe haven states were in eastern Europe where highly qualified and 
illegitimately employed hackers practiced their trade with little threat 
from law enforcers.


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