Part two. JMR --- begin forwarded text
Status: U Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2001 14:07:00 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Skywave News Service <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (by way of [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Subject: ip: Euro Stirs Y2K-Like Concerns (2 of 2) http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,47252-2,00.html Euro Stirs Y2K-Like Concerns 2:00 a.m. Oct. 9, 2001 PDT (page 2) "Whenever there is a social discontinuity, there is massive cyber-fraud," Valentine said. "This first happened in the Y2K scare. Now, with the arrival of the euro, there will be a substantial increase of new Web-based scams because cyber criminals, like all fraud artists, need periods of change to prosper," he said. Peter Vogel, a partner with the law firm Gardere Wynne Sewell in Dallas, agreed that the potential for cyber-fraud during the euro changeover is mind-boggling. "In the U.S., for example, there is a bank transfer system called Fedwire that transfers $3 trillion per day, and the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) claims that at any time $40 million to $50 million are unaccounted for, meaning it is either lost or stolen. That's just one country, so imagine the potential criminal opportunities to transfer euros on the Internet between 15 countries," he said. Vogel added that the "code of silence" that prevails among enterprises when it comes to cyber crime only makes it harder to nab the criminals. "The criminal vulnerability for the euro is made worse by the fact that less than 10 percent of computer/Internet crimes are reported because of the potential adverse publicity and lack of public confidence if a major bank admitted that a major theft had occurred," Vogel said. Patrick O'Beirne, a euro consultant with Systems Modelling and author of a book on information systems and the euro, said that the new currency undoubtedly presented an opportunity for white-collar crime or "inside jobs." The challenge for companies will be detecting whether conversion mistakes have been the result of human error, a software glitch or deliberate fraud, O'Beirne said. Such confusion has already been evident this year in some European countries as company payrolls, financial institutions and government bodies began calculating amounts in euros. In France, Electricité de France (EDF) was underpaid by 50,000 of its customers because they confused francs with euros on electricity bills, while workers in a Spanish computer firm were surprised when their paychecks of 200,000 pesetas a month (about $1,100) were mistakenly printed as 200,000 euros (about $184,000). The countdown to the euro comes at a time when politicians have been calling for tougher measures to tackle cyber crime. Douglas Alexander, the United Kingdom's minister of state for e-commerce, recently warned that businesses used by hackers to attack other enterprises must take a share of the blame. "The terrorist attack on America has put a new and intense focus on information security," Alexander said. "Businesses that have gaps in their security and act as a platform for denial-of-service attacks must be held responsible for their role in the attack." The Belgian government has also been pushing EU members to support its plans for an early warning system for computer viruses. The idea is to create a Web of computer virus and cyber-crime centers that would swap intelligence and give advance warning of emerging threats. That, however, will come too late to help enterprises deal with the euro conversion. In the meantime, companies are advised to reinforce their cybersecurity measures before Jan. 1 –- or face the consequences. Gartner's Jones recommended that IT systems should be fully checked for conversion functionality, antivirus protection and backup strategies in the event of a problem. He also advised enterprises to draw up a contingency plan covering scenarios such as power cuts, lack of staff and hardware failure. "The apocalypse scenario hopefully won't happen, but it's better to be safe than sorry," Jones said. << Back 2 of 2 --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Did you know that e-metal is a wonderful holiday gift? Avoid the hassle this year!
