Opportunity makes a thief: a report on computer abuse in the UK
| Published date | 01 January 1995 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb025653 |
| Pages | 295-299 |
| Date | 01 January 1995 |
| Author | Chris Hurford |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance |
Journal
of
Financial Crime Volume
2
Number
4
Opportunity makes a thief: a report on computer
abuse in the UK
Chris Hurford
Received (in revised form): 6th December, 1994
Chris Hurford is an Associate Director at the
Audit Commission where he advises upon com-
puting issues relating to the Commission's
responsibilities for auditing local authorities and
the NHS. He has been responsible for the Audit
Commission's widely known triennial Computer
Fraud Surveys including the recently published
fifth survey. These surveys are regarded as
authoritative and reliable analyses of computer
crime and abuse within the UK. Chris is an
elected member of the Chartered Institute of
Public Finance and Accountancy's (CIPFA)
Council and is chairman of the board of Founda-
tion for Information Technology in Local Govern-
ment
(FITLOG).
ABSTRACT
The results of the latest Audit Commission
survey
of computer fraud and
abuse
have
been
published in 'Opportunity Makes a
Thief—
An Analysis of Computer Abuse'.1 This paper
summarises the key messages from the
report
and highlights the
risks
facing
organisations
and the action which management needs to
take.
INTRODUCTION
Dependence upon technology in all
walks of life is increasingly dramatically.
Hole in the wall banking, the debit card
at the supermarket checkout, the pri-
mary school pupil using the micro to
grapple with National Curriculum and
the social worker using the micro at
home are all common examples of the
pervasive use of computing. But that
very dependence upon technology raises
questions on the risks as well as the
benefits. Certainly the image of the
young hacker cracking the passwords
and gaining access to sensitive data
excites a deal of interest — particularly
from the entertainment industry. But
how real is this threat?
A decade or more ago most articles on
the subject drew on material from North
America where high value losses were,
and still are, particularly evident. The
absence of similar examples in the UK
led many to ask whether this was pecu-
liar to the USA or whether organisations
were unwittingly suffering similar losses
but were singularly failing to detect
them. It was against this background that
the Audit Commission decided to
undertake research on this subject with
three primary objectives:
—
to identify those aspects of computing
which pose the greatest risks to the
financial and administrative well-
being of organisations;
—
to assess the potential incidence of
such risks within the Commission's
customer base in local government
and the National Health Service in
England and Wales; and
—
to provide an authoritative survey of
UK computer fraud and abuse for the
benefit of management and audit.
Page
295
To continue reading
Request your trial