Even the security experts get hit

The US Government's Department for Homeland Security has acknowledged it suffered from more than 800 hacking attacks, virus outbreaks and other malware problems.

In one incident, hacker executables for extracting sensitive information, including password files, were found on two internal computer systems at the department.

In another case, workstations at the US Coast Guard and the US Transportation Security Administration were found to have malware that attempted to relay information to the outside world.

And, as in any large organisation, officials admitted that laptops had gone `walkabout' and various Web sites suffered attacks.

Commenting on the revelations made in US Congress this week, Calum Macleod, European Director for Cyber-Ark, a company specialising in protecting sensitive data for companies, said that the fact that the US agency charged with security is getting hit by IT security problems is a warning to everyone.

It highlights the need for extreme vigilance when company and customer data is involved. It is to be hoped that the agency practices what it preaches and keeps its critical data in a digital safe that is heavily encrypted, he said.

For more on the Department's IT security problems click here.