Four security lessons from the World Bank breach

According to a report from Fox News, several servers at the World Bank Group, an organization that offers economic assistance to developing countries around the globe, were repeatedly compromised and breached over the course of the last year.

Details are still emerging and it is unclear how much sensitive information, if any, was stolen. But the Fox report, which cites internal memos, claims the organization's computer network suffered six major intrusions, which included access to the bank's network for nearly a month in June and July, 2008.

Officials with the World Bank this week claim the Fox report is full of errors, and are criticizing Fox for using unnamed sources in the story.

CSO spoke with Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with IT security and control firm Sophos, for a look at some of the allegations that are swirling. Cluley said regardless of the facts, what's being discussed can offer some valuable lessons that security pros can use before a breach hits home.

Cyber thieves are everywhere and no where is safe.

Some of the intrusions in question appear to have originated with the same cluster of IP addresses in China.

"This doesn't mean the attackers were in China," said Cluley. "If you are going to hack into an organization like the World Bank, you don't use your own computer."

Instead, it is likely that the criminals involved with the attack commandeered other computers to hijack the World Bank servers.

The bottom line is that computers everywhere are at risk. No matter where you are located, your security plan needs to be bullet proof.

In a breach like this, the motivation could be financial or political.

While many of the breaches we are seeing these days are often done for financial gain, Cluley thinks an organization like the World Bank could very well have been targeted for political reasons as much as for money. Or it could be part of an elaborate plot to gain notoriety.

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