Businesses are hiring a growing number of ethical
hackers to test the security of their IT systems, consulting group
NCC said this week.
Announcing a 10% rise in interim profits, NCC chief executive
Rob Cotton said demand for ethical hacking grew by 50% last year
and would continue to rise in 2006.
"Businesses have acknowledged they are not keeping pace with the
sophistication of the non-ethical hacker. They need to take advice
to overcome what is an epidemic threat to businesses," he said.
NCC said firms were increasingly asking consultants to check the
resilience of their businesses to "social engineering" attacks.
NCC specialists have been hired to pose as IT staff to trick
employees into disclosing their user names and passwords, Cotton
revealed. In other cases, consultants have posed as staff to gain
access to buildings and log on to office systems.
NCC also reported increased demand for forensic IT services,
following a series of data thefts by company employees,
particularly temporary staff.
"If you are a hacker, the best place to hack someone to obtain
financial gain is inside the business," Cotton said.