CHINESE computer hackers are responsible for 88 per cent of attacks on Australian government web sites, according to web security company TippingPoint

CHINESE computer hackers are responsible for 88 per cent of attacks on Australian government web sites, according to web security company TippingPoint.

What's more, hacks per capita in Australia are higher than in the US, UK and Russia.

Linux systems accounted for 64.7 per cent of IT systems hacked, with Windows 2003 and 2000 systems attracting about 26 per cent between them, with all other systems hovering about the 1 per cent mark. AIX and Mac OS X were the least exploited, at 0.3 per cent each.

TippingPoint revealed its findings at the AusCERT 2008 conference at the Gold Coast last week, a conference for computer security professionals.

Marketing director, Ken Low said the high Linux exploits were largely due to versions of Linux being free of charge.

"Many organisations in Australia use Linux as the platform for their internet-facing servers to reduce their IT operating costs," Mr Low said.

"This is unfortunate as it is common to find Linux servers with security holes unpatched or security settings misconfigured among these organisations. "This pervasive negligence allows hackers to penetrate and exploit many of these systems in this country easily."

Mr Low explained that while many companies use anti-virus, firewalls and patching tools, these traditional tools can't keep up with the rapid development of new cyber attacks today.

He recommended that, to protect servers (and not just Linux ones), all companies deploy an intrusion prevention system (IPS) and network access control (NAC) solution that prevents the latest attacks from reaching unpatched vulnerabilities or exploiting the mis-configured security settings in their network.

CHRIS OATEN - Adelaidenow.com