At the ISC West conference in 2009, I saw a great keynote speech delivered by Lt. General Kenneth Minihan, former Director of both the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA). Our intelligence agencies, based on their mission, identify global security trends several years ahead of the commercial markets. As he put it, “Regarding cybercrime and intellectual property theft, we are facing the most serious economic and national security challenge of the 21st century.” The General also made the point that the exhibitors on the floor had no idea about the seriousness of the threat, or the market opportunity it represents.
The fact is the physical security industry has done nothing since 2009 regarding combating cyber crime. McAfee, a security firm recently purchased by Intel Corporation, produced its 2010 annual security report and stated that the annual global revenues from cyber crime exceed $1 trillion. This involves everything from personal identity theft, stealing intellectual property and e-commerce fraud, to piracy of software and counterfeit goods. The threats are both internal and external to organizations.