Hacker, fraud study

Press, 30 August 1988, Page 29

Hacker, fraud study

London correspondent An ambitious, year-long project aimed at finding new methods of combating computer hacking and fraud is about to be launched in Britain.

The lateral-thinking exponent, Dr Edward de Bono, will be one of the project leaders. The project has been commissioned by Strategic Management Group, a company formed by an American trial laywer, Patrick Ardus,- and Network Security Management, a London-based security consultancy company.

Although Dr de Bono has not specialised in security before, he believes this will help in creating a fresh approach to what is an international problem. The project organisers say that nowhere in the plethora of modern management books and university business courses are the problems of dishonesty ever mentioned. ■They say the assumption is that they are unimportant, unlikely, or possibly not a responsibility of senior management.

“It is no wonder that companies are taken by surprise when the worst happens, fortunes are lost, and directors or managers are sued personally by shareholders, third parties, and insurance companies for negligence or bad faith,” they say in their brochure.

The aims of the project are to reappraise all business risks, including fraud and computer abuse, sabotage, terrorism, subversion, espionage and even natural disasters, and to provide as many conventional and alternative solutions as possible. The project, being called Creative Management Control, has invited companies, ranging from computer manufacturers to law firms, to take part as sponsors, as well as individuals to work as participants. Members of the society for people whose IQ places them in the top 2 per cent in intelligence, Mensa, are also joining the teams.

According to “The Times,” one of their roles will be to provoke changes in traditional thinking about problems during the project session.

NSM lists cases in which it has detected computer swindles involving many millions of pounds.

The project’s co-leader is the managing director of NSM, Mr Michael Comer, who believes computer fraud is overstated.

“Losses from fraud are between 2 per cent and 5 per cent of a company’s turnover. Computer fraud accounts for about 10 per cent of. that. Corruption, bribery, insider trading and workplace theft are much more damaging — though that is not a popular view,” he told “The Times."