G DATA Software AG: Antivirus, Virenschutz, Virenscanner, Internet Security

“The British Government’s National Security Strategy is right to identify cyber-attacks as a major threat to national security. Cyber terrorism is on the rise and neither national governments nor the general public are fully prepared to deal with the threat,” comments Willems.

“When swine flu became a global threat in 2009, Barack Obama made a televised address to tell people: “Wash your hands, cover your mouth when you cough, and keep kids home if they’re sick.” Leaders like David Cameron need to educate people in a similar practical way about preventing the spread of computer viruses to reduce the fallout from future cyber-attacks.

As with swine flu the public have an important role to play as well. Companies and individuals need to make sure their networks and computers are protected and that they allow their antivirus software to be frequently updated. Members of the public need to become accustomed to exercising care when dealing with emails, caution when using social networks and restraint in using devices like USB sticks.

International cooperation is also needed. Viruses can be neutralised once sufficient information about them is known. With greater international coordination new viruses can be analysed quickly, enabling software companies to develop fixes and minimise the extent of any damage caused. Current levels of co-operation are not sufficient to counter a widespread threat, as the response to the recent Stuxnet attack has shown.

For biological viruses it took something as severe as a global outbreak of swine flu to get governments to cooperate and share information with one another and industry so that vaccines could be quickly produced to contain the threat. I hope it doesn’t take an event of comparable magnitude to get governments to co-operate on malware threats because as society become more and more reliant on computers for their work and leisure we are all increasingly exposed. Unless we act in unison now we could face a malware epidemic in the next couple of years.

When the public are aware of the risks we face and the simple steps they can take to protect themselves we will all be better prepared for any future attacks that occur.”