March 13, 2007 11:40 AM
Scotland Yard has foiled a planned attack on the British Internet by al-Qaeda, according to The Sunday Times.
According to reports, authorities carried out a series of raids that netted computer files revealing that terrorist suspects had targeted a high-security Internet hub in London. Scotland Yard also arrested suspects who had allegedly targeted the headquarters of Telehouse Europe, a facility that contains dozens of servers and which The Sunday Times refers to as Europe's "biggest Web hotel."
Investigators reportedly found evidence on a seized hard drive that the suspects plotted to infiltrate the hub and possibly blow it up from the inside, thus causing havoc in the London Stock Exchange and to British businesses.
Allysa Myers of McAfee's Avert Labs posted an analysis of the situation and came up with three takeaways for any business:
1. A significant number of security problems are due to employees and contractors, not outside parties.
2. It's equally important to have physical security considerations as well as those for "cybersecurity."
3. Don't allow a single point of failure.