Hackers unite at CSC

Services company Computer Sciences (CSC) is t o bring all of its UK 'ethical hackers' under one roof.

The US-based company, which had its roots in work for NASA and the Pentagon, is pulling all of its security offerings into one unit, Global Information Security Services. This employs 600 experts including 40 'ethical hackers' worldwide. In the UK and Europe, CSC employs 'double figures' of hackers according to UK spokesman Amanda Hassall. She said: "They are all recruited internally. Typically, they are already experts in one or more operating systems. They are ring-fenced and then sent to the US for training." CSC has its own proprietary tools including HEAT (Hydra Enterprise Assistance Tool), which was developed in the US and is now being used on this side of the Atlantic. CSC covers both vulnerability analysis, carried out with the knowledge of system administrators, and penetration testing, "which does involve breaking in," said Hassall.