October is Cyber Security Awareness month, bringing to mind a special aired by Frontline in November of 2001 called “Hackers: A Report on the Exploits of Hackers and How They Have Highlighted the Internet’s Insecurities.” In the Risks of the Internet’s Vulnerabilities segment, Frontline interviewed Richard Power, an internationally recognized authority on information security and editorial director of the Computer Security Institute. Mr. Power addresses the issue of “soft costs,” or freight, labor, software, and other intangible items, by pointing out that if an eBusiness relies on $600,000 an hour in revenue from its eCommerce website, an attack such as a denial of service will cost the business $600,000 for every hour the eCommerce website is down. That is $600,000 an hour in lost sales, shipping, labor and all the other intangible aspects that are involved in a business. $600,000 an hour may seem like a large sum, but think of the revenue you generate from your eCommerce website, and what would happen to your business if your eCommerce website was down for one hour or one day. Would you still be in business?

Though the series aired in 2001, the information is even more important today as hackers move from disrupting businesses to show that it can be done to disrupting businesses for financial gain. There have been reports of hackers instigating DOS attacks and holding a business hostage until the business agrees to pay a particular sum of money. In the wake of government data being stolen off a laptop, and customer information stolen from financial institutions, it is clear that Mr. Power has a point in defining the “soft costs” of hacker attacks; the “soft costs” freight, labor, software, and other intangible items more than likely are more than the cost of prevention technology.