BBC News Online: Sci/Tech

Computer 'red box' vulnerable to hackers

The files on the computer will be encrypted, probably using the government's own classified codes, and will only be unlocked through a combination of a minister's fingerprint and special personal signet ring.

While these measures may be deter amateur hackers, Robert Schifreen, a security consultant and former hacker, believes they would not foil foreign intelligence agencies for long.

They have some very powerful computers at their disposal, he points out: "I've heard of various agencies being able to crack some of the most complex codes in 40 minutes".

Britain's civil service already has a poor security record when it comes to computer equipment. Losses of equipment of all kinds from government equipment went up by 373 percent between 1991 and 1996, with computer equipment making up the bulk of it.

And during the Gulf War, a laptop containing plans for Kuwait's invasion was stolen from a senior military officer, though a patriotic thief later returned it.

According to US Department of Defence figures, their own computer systems were attacked 250,000 times in 1995, and 65% of those attacks were successful.

Still, as Schifreen points out, "the laptop's security is a vast improvement on what was there before" - a box full of paper.

Relevant Stories

New Labour - New Briefcase (13 Jan 98 | UK)

Internet Links

Cabinet Office Central Information Technology Unit - ordered the prototype
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency - designed the device

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