The chief technology officer of Internet security firm CyberGuard Corp. is raising new concerns over the potential liability of universities, libraries and other organizations whose computers were unwittingly used for the recent denial-of-service hacking attacks on Yahoo!, Buy.com, Amazon.com, CNN.com, Ebay.com and other Web sites. “Just as an individual may be liable for injuries caused by an unsecured gun used to commit a crime, universities and other organizations may be liable for injuries caused by their unsecured computers that were used by hackers to commit these crimes,” says Mike Wittig, CyberGuard CTO. “This wave of hacks prove that there are a lot of loaded, unsecured guns out there on the Internet.”
Meanwhile, CNET’s News.com reports that the spate of hacker attacks has boosted stocks of companies, such as CyberGuard, who provide enterprise and electronic commerce security. Other companies benefiting from the knee-jerk investor reaction include Check Point Software, VeriSign, Entrust Technologies, ISS Group and Axent Technologies.
