Viruses: Could your business be liable?

Last summer saw an unprecedented onslaught on computer systems worldwide by three viruses: Blaster, Nachi and Sobig. The disruption and cost of dealing with major virus attacks are already depressingly familiar to businesses. A range of initiatives is being adopted at national and international level to combat cybercrime. The more immediate, day-to-day concerns of businesses, however, have attracted less comment -- not least because many of the key issues have no simple answer and are yet to be tested before the courts. For example, what if the next virus attack delayed a time-critical email, resulting in the loss of a deal and with it your firm's key customer?

In this article Olswang examines the legal risks posed to businesses by virus attacks and considers the practical and legal steps directors and in-house
counsel need to take to reduce a company's exposure to this growing area of risk.

The bottom line
The precise cost of a virus attack is difficult to quantify, although some have attempted to put a price on it:
• The average cost of an information security incident for a medium to large UK company is £122,000. (Cost of Security Incident Response Survey, the Corporate IT Forum, December 2003
• Information security incidents cost British business several billion pounds a year. (PricewaterhouseCoopers Information Security Breaches Survey 2002)