Fears are mounting among computer experts that Britain may be becoming increasingly vulnerable to attack by hackers.
They believe that both civil and military institutions, as well as major companies, are in danger of a devastating 'cyber attack' - possibly as a prelude to a terrorist assault on the country, or simply as a challenge for expert young computer users.
Among the trends recently noted by computer security officials have been an illegal trade in ageing Cray super-computers, which are ideal for cracking complex encrypted passwords used to guard major installations and companies, and a steady rise in attempts to recruit the services of young computer researchers, particularly from eastern Europe, by a variety of shadowy organisations, including terrorists.
There are also fears over the country's lack of readiness for possible attacks. 'The trouble is that we have got our priorities very badly mixed up,' said Paran Chandrasekaran, head of the security consultancy Indicii Salus.
'Just take the recent example of Cherie Blair. I am sure she is very carefully looked after by security guards, but her cyber security is abysmal.'
Evidence recently collected by experts includes reports that:
· Government institutions are successfully attacked by hackers an average of 84 times a week.
· A total of 44 per cent of UK businesses have suffered a malicious electronic security incident in the past year. This figure is almost double the 24 per cent that reported breaches in 2000.
· More than 200 UK companies are now targeted by hackers every day.
· Eight out of 10 office workers open and read other people's emails without permission.
'It is incredibly easy to do a search on the internet for a program that you can then download and use to read emails round your office,' said Dr Magnus Ranstorp, of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, at St Andrews University.
'Then you get recruited by a group or business outfit and used to infiltrate an office with fake credentials. Someone starts working as a temp in one department. After a few weeks, he or she could have gone through half the secure documents in the whole building.'
To guard against such attacks, many key installations and government departments change passwords with the departure of any worker for a new job. However, most security officials now doubt that such efforts go anywhere near to protecting institutions against committed cyber attacks.
'It's like standing in a field with your trousers round your ankles,' said one. 'You are still terribly exposed.'
