Europe unprepared for cyber terror threat, warns Microsoft

Date: 20/02/03

By Peter Chapman

Governments and firms are failing to secure their IT systems, despite the threat from al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups which might retaliate against military action in Iraq, the head of Microsoft in Europe has warned.

Jean-Philippe Courtois said he fears that personal computer systems are not being protected as tightly as mainframe set-ups, even though much government and business infrastructure now relies heavily on PC networks.

"This [protection of IT systems] is not a luxury. It is a must," warned Courtois, the US software giant's president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

He said he knew of "glaring security breaches" in some of the EU's biggest corporations from discussions with IT executives.

His fears were echoed by Erkki Liikanen, commissioner for enterprise and information society, who acknowledged that the threat posed by cyber-terror is now very real.

Although the internet had proved "surprisingly resilient" after al-Qaeda's 11 September 2001 strikes on the US, key infrastructure such as water, electricity and transport could be vulnerable to terrorists hacking into networks. "Never say never," he said. "We all know information and communications systems are a critical element in this infrastructure," he added.

Liikanen has just announced plans for a new agency devoted to boosting network security in the EU. He said it would bring together some of the finest IT brains in Europe to advise on the risks of security threats to major utilities and businesses.

He and Courtois spoke out on the sidelines of a European Voice "e-confidence" conference held on Tuesday (18 February).

Microsoft chief Courtois added: "We are not naïve about what could happen or could not happen. We are working very hard to raise levels of security, reliability and dependability [with clients]."

Olivier Paridaens, network security expert for French electronics firm Alcatel, echoed some of his concerns. The opening up of systems onto the internet, coupled with greater complexity, meant that computer networks are more vulnerable than ever before. "But, we should not fall into super-paranoia," he said, adding that utilities are relatively well protected from cyber assault.

The nightmare scenario, he feared, would be a "coordinated" terrorist attack linking cyber-sabotage with bombing of major electricity generating stations. "I don't think measures have been taken to avert that," he warned.

Quentin Gallivan, of IT security systems firm VeriSign, said there was "probably less awareness" of network security in Europe than in the US. But this did not apply to Europe's multinationals, which are on a par with the US when it comes to defending IT from terrorism. But he warned that most small and medium sized enterprises in the EU were "probably less aware".

Governments and firms are failing to secure their IT systems, despite the threat from al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups which might retaliate against military action in Iraq, the head of Microsoft in Europe has warned.