Security experts at Bull are investigating reports that a flaw with its web servers allowed access to confidential customer data.

A spokeswoman for Bull confirmed that an investigation was underway which would establish how deep the problem was.

She said that Bull's customers, which include the Royal Air Force, Barclays and France Telecom, should speak to their local account manager if they are concerned about the problem. She added that the problem originated in France.

Details concerning the problem, which affected a website containing real-time customer access, are still sketchy but it is believed that through human error, confidential information was left without password protection.

The breach is all the more embarrassing for Bull, whose BullSoft division, recently spun off as independent subsidiary Evidian, has a sizeable presence in the security market, particularly within public bodies.

Brian Gladman, technical advisor to the Foundation for Information Policy Research and formerly a technical director with Nato, said the flaw would allow hackers to discover information about what hardware and software was supplied by Bull. This information could then be used to plan attacks, he added.

"The problem is all the more embarrassing because Bull supplies allegedly secure systems," said Gladman.

See also:

Hacker insurance becomes a priority

Insurance firms are hoping for a boom in business as companies scramble to protect themselves against the rise in computer crime.  05 Sep 2000

Egg cracks online banking fraud

Online bank Egg has confirmed that three people have been arrested after its anti-fraud software detected their attempts to set up bogus online bank accounts.  23 Aug 2000

Woolies forced to shut online store

High street veteran Woolworths has been forced to temporarily close its online store after customer credit card and personal details were exposed on its website.  11 Aug 2000

Barclays' web bank suffers security breach

Barclays has reopened its online banking service after an embarrassing security breach forced it offline yesterday afternoon.  01 Aug 2000

European firms getting security wrong

Security has finally become an item on the corporate agenda but many companies are taking the wrong approach to addressing the issue, according to research by IDC.  21 Jul 2000

Web crash scrambles Egg and Cahoot

Technicians behind Egg and Cahoot, two of the UK's biggest internet banks, have started their investigations into what caused their websites to crash.  21 Jun 2000

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!