FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 03, 2008

VANCOUVER, CANADA – July 3, 2008 – The hackers who turned Sony PlayStation website into a site for illegally harvesting IDs are part of a larger trend of web application insecurity, says Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd. President Vaclav Vincalek.

“Reports indicate that cyber-criminals used an SQL injection vulnerability to recently add unauthorised code to pages promoting PlayStation games SingStar Pop and God of War. “This is just the latest example of when bad things happen to good websites. Typical IT security measures like firewalls and virus scanning software are not effective against the kind of attack hackers used on Sony’s website, using SQL injection against the application layer,” Vincalek notes.

Since up to 75 per cent of hacker attacks are directed against those types of targets, companies that fail to protect website users are opening themselves up to inevitable problems. The number of attacks against the application layer has surged over the past two years.

“And we know from independent analysts from organizations like Forrester Research that a security breach can cost a company between $90 and $305 per record to remedy the situation,” Vincalek adds. “When a company’s website allows hackers access to thousands or even millions of records, the damages add up quickly.”

A web security audit is part of the overall security solution companies need to think about. Devfense is a web security audit tool from PCIS' Boonbox product line. "The tools are already available for businesses that want to be secure," Vaclav says.


About PCIS – www.pcis.com
Pacific Coast Information Systems (PCIS) Ltd. is a technology and consulting firm based in Vancouver. Founded in 1995, PCIS offers packaged infrastructure and network solutions that enable organizations to address security and compliance issues within today’s complex IT environment.

About Boonbox – www.boonbox.net
Boonbox, a division of PCIS, was created in 2007. Boonbox packaged service solutions are developed for customers for whom network security is a high priority. Boonbox enables companies to address security, compliance and data integrity issues.

Media Contact
Jonathon Narvey, Communications
Pacific Coast Information Systems Ltd./ Boonbox (a division of PCIS)
700-1112 Pender Street West
Vancouver, BC
V6E 2S1 Canada
Phone: +1 (604) 844-7558
jonathonnarvey@pcis.com
www.pcis.com / www.boonbox.net

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