Unauthorised Access - Definition

One of the most publicised risks to information systems is that of unauthorised access, often referred to as hacking.

For some, hacking is seen as something that happens to other people - typically large or high profile organisations. But this is not the case. As use of the Internet grows, so too does the number of external attacks. The number of internal attacks is also increasing.

BERR's Information Security Breaches Survey 2008 shows that 35% of UK companies suffered a malicious security incident in the last year. The bigger the company, the more attractive a target it is. There is some evidence that these statistics may underestimate the problem - many companies still lack the controls that would enable them to detect all incidents. According to the hacking community, only a tiny proportion of actual penetrations are detected by network owners.

If you are concerned about the risk of unauthorised access, see our Unauthorised Access Risk  page.

If you haven't done so already, think about prevention  and what steps you might take for recovery, if required.  Or go to the Unauthorised Access Home Page  for a full list of resources on this