When data is not the ultimate hacker target

The fact that a US water utility was hacked last week is far from headline news, but what struck a chord here in London was the fact that the hackers were not trying to view, or steal, the company's data.

The hackers were instead trying to gain access to the company's network purely for the purposes of sending spam, probably as part of a wider botnet attack.

The consequences for the company were probably far worse, as it turns out, than a script kiddie viewing some of its data.

Let's face it - there are probably a very small number of people who want to identify the workings of a water filtration plant.

But instead its bandwidth is likely to have been readily consumed, seriously harming business productivity.

Then there are the legal problems which could have resulted.

Fortunately, the company seems to have rid itself of the offending software, but there are lessons to be learnt.

Businesses need to protect not only their confidential data, but also protect themselves against being turned into zombies in that manner.

And that is not easy: no business can be 100% secure.