Get ready for murder by internet

Coming soon - murder at the click of a mouse.

According to US internet security company Internet Identity, we are well on our way to the first ever murder committed by hacking into an internet-connected device.

Internet Identity predicted murder by internet in a report last year, stating: "With so many devices being internet connected, it makes murder relatively simple, at least from a technical perspective."

This year's report said that though there has yet to be a proved case of murder over the internet it might have happened and not been detected. It noted that former US vice-president Dick Cheney asked to have the wireless function of his pacemaker disabled to prevent it from being hacked.

The report said that, in June, the US Food and Drug Administration demanded that "the healthcare industry address vulnerabilities in internet-connected devices such as pacemakers, which could be hacked to send out lethal jolts of electricity, or insulin pumps, which can be reprogrammed to administer overdoses".

Internet Identity also foresaw an increase in cyber warfare and cyber espionage. It claimed, as have other industry security companies, that China has a secret military unit that electronically infiltrates the networks of businesses, media houses and governments.

Computer security firm Kaspersky's has predicted an increase in cyber espionage between companies in attempts to gain competitive advantage .

Craig Rosewarne, managing director of Wolfpack Information Risk, said that though cyber warfare is increasing in the US it has yet to catch on in South Africa.

But he said it was impossible to quantify the extent of cyber espionage in South Africa because up to 80% of companies are not running the monitoring software that could provide the answer.