Virus Attack: Need for more than just an alert

The lightning spread of the Lovsan/Blaster worm over the global Internet has once again highlighted the vulnerability of systems - and even governments - all over the world.

And if governments cannot do much other than react to such attacks, what chance does a Joe sitting on his ancient PC - or a small business with a few networked computers - have, to prepare for or counter such attacks?

Even large sophisticated businesses and IT firms can, but initially, limit the entry of such worms or viruses - at a cost. And, after the event, react, by installing patches.

The world still shudders at the thought of the 'I Love You' virus, and the 'Slammer' that hit PCs early this year.

The steady stream of attacks highlights the fact that the world has yet not developed a system that can identify a threat and stop it before it becomes rampant.

The known notorious attacks have so far come mostly from individuals who wanted to prove their capability of causing widespread harm. How far cyber terrorism has advanced is not yet known.

The Middle East appears to still take the threat of cyber attacks relatively calmly. There appears to be little organised capability either at a country level or at the GCC or the Arab League.

There is no reliable data, and there is no concerted effort to obtain it. Without such information, the fight against cyber threats will almost always be reactive and at a disadvantage.

The individual or the small business cannot fight it alone. What is needed is for governments to take the initiative - at the domestic, regional and global level.

A much more effective and organised system of task forces should be set up at each Internet Service Provider level reporting to the state, and the state reporting to a global task force under the aegis of the United Nations.

Thwarting cyber terrorism should be a proactive effort, not reactive.

As we have seen, a system is developed by the best minds a Microsoft can have at its disposal. The world then waits nervously while a programmer finds its jugular and lets loose all hell. To wit, the Lovsan/Blaster taunts Microsoft President Bill Gates saying: "Billy Gates why do you make this possible? Stop making money and fix your software."

The attacker is one-step ahead. What we need, is to be one-step ahead.

Middle East ISPs are mostly controlled by governments. They have a highly sophisticated capability to block individual PCs from accessing undesirable sites. Is it, perhaps, possible to reverse the system? Can malicious emails be blocked? Is this the responsibility of the email account provider, the software supplier or the ISP - or all three?

When we live in a society, the state provides protection. Why do we have to buy protection on the worldwide web - especially protection that proves ineffective against the onslaught of a malicious worm or a virus?