Forwarded From: Nicholas Charles Brawn <ncb05t_private> 27Apr98 JAPAN: AS CORPORATE NETWORKS EXPAND, SOME VISITORS COME UNINVITED. "Computer systems at 90% of Japanese companies allow intrusion from outside," warned instructor Takeshi Horizoe at a March 26 seminar in Tokyo. The seminar on Internet crime and ways to prevent unauthorized access drew some 40 people in charge of systems from the manufacturing, financing, distribution and other sectors. Horizoe is a senior consultant at General Accounting & Business Consulting Inc. of Tokyo, which handles security for corporate systems. "Some companies have a sense of crisis about unauthorized access at the management level, and others do not have any such sense," he said. Unauthorized access means that an outsider intrudes deeply into a company's system via the Internet to steal or destroy data. Strong sector The company last October started a management service to prevent unauthorized access. Manufacturers especially have a strong tendency to consider information as an asset, and 21 of 30 companies that use the service are manufacturers. Research-and-development data on new products may have immeasurable value. The company said one of its client manufacturers affirmed that it would spare no expense to protect information. Computer-network crime is not a problem for manufacturers alone. For example, any company that provides information for investors can have its home page altered by outsiders, with the potential to gravely affect stock prices. General Accounting's service involves trying to enter a client company's system by the same methods as intruders and checking its degree of security. The company does not send its personnel to the client, performing all functions through the network. "Some home pages have been lers with the content illegally altered," Hori-zoe said. After checking defects in the system, the company draws up a report and delivers it to the client. General Accounting then can take concrete measures, such as installing a guard system called a fire wall, based on the report. Fumiaki Yamasaki, the company's general manager for business development, said, "It is important for a company to decide what information to protect." The larger a company, the larger the investment in security normally will be. While most companies pay 6-10 million yen (46,200 dollars to 76,900 dollars) annually, some large systems may need hundreds of millions of yen. Investing in protecting information requires management understanding. General Accounting holds a seminar once a month to call companies' attention to the importance of preventing improper access. In 1997, just over 400 cases of unauthorized access were reported to the Japan Computer Emergency Response Team. The number, however, is said to be only a fraction of the actual figure, since many companies are reluctant to disclose such incidents. General Accounting regards companies with annual sales of more than 100 billion yen as potential clients, and projects contracts with 150 companies and sales of 630 million yen in the fiscal year through March 1999. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomot_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Dimensional Communications (www.dim.com)
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