Hackers
might have become every web site’s nightmare after major sites
like Yahoo!, CNN, and AOL were hacked recently. But what Aastrom
Biosciences Inc. experienced recently was a little different. A
suspected computer hacker posted a fake press release on the
company’s web site announcing a merger with California-based
Biopharmaceutical Company, Geron Corp. The result: An instant
boost in the company’s shares prices at the stock exchange. By
the time an employee spotted the release and trading was
officially halted, the stock had already jumped by 6.5 percent.
The company’s officials were reportedly "appalled"
by the "ruthless attempt to manipulate markets and harm the
interests of shareholders".
What is perhaps more
interesting to note is some of the initiatives taken by various
organizations to prevent, neigh, to minimize such further
attacks–from small company initiatives to White House
conferences. While Aastrom preferred to temporarily take down
its web site from the Web, ICSA.net, a GartnerGroup affiliate,
officially announced formation of the Alliance for Internet
Security and released guidelines to aid companies in identifying
and solving potential security problems. The Alliance while
recognizing the "inevitability" of network attacks
seeks modest "voluntary" contributions from all the
members towards Internet security. To join the Alliance for
Internet Security, members must subscribe to a pledge. Sound
like medieval loyalty, does it?
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