Antivirus firm's anti-hacker advice: Write sexy romance

Writing sexy romance fiction can thwart hackers trying to gain access to sensitive data of businesses, a computer security firm claimed. The catch? The claim by Sophos, a maker of anti-virus and computer security solutions, was made in a press article for April Fool's Day. "Sophos research shows that by flooding networks with romantic literature, you can build an additional level of defence against hackers. Not only will they find it harder to uncover your confidential information, but they can also be distracted for over 1.4 hours, giving IT security teams the necessary time to identify the security breach and take the appropriate measures to protect sensitive data on the network," the firm said in its press release April 1. The press release claimed it would roll out its new technology of protecting sensitive data on business networks, "Protection through Distraction," soon. While the press release was taken down at 1:30 p.m. (Manila time), its link was still on Sophos' press section and will redirect users to a blog entry of Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant at Sophos. The contents of Cluley's blog entry were mostly similar to those of the April Fools' press release. Before it was taken down, the press release quoted Carole Theriault, a senior security analyst, as saying the "technology" would exploit what she called the Achilles' heel of hackers. "They're human, just like the rest of us. And if you give them something titillating to peruse, they can't restrain themselves. It's a little like luring a mouse into a trap: they may sense the danger but cannot resist a little morsel of cheese." she was quoted as saying.

But she also voiced "concern" that hackers could create Anti-Romance Scanners to identify the work written by Sophos researchers. "It's as though the good guys and bad guys have swapped sides – we are now trying to obfuscate our romantic fiction from their anti-romance scanners. With a wider variety of romantic plots and more people's imagination to pool, we will have a high level of content ready to roll across our customers' networks," she said. Sophos also made available a YouTube video providing more information and insight into "Protection through Distraction." It even appealed to the online community to send in stories based on the opening lines of a romance story it started. Entries can be sent to romance@sophos.com. — LGB/RSJ, GMANews.TV