Team Cymru, a company which has major operations in monitoring and researching computer hacking across Europe and the US, is now setting up its base in the Middle East, where companies have a growing need to protect themselves.

Team Cymru launched its Mideast opwerations at Meftec 2009, the fifth edition of the annual banking and financial technology event at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Conference Centre.

About 15 years ago computer hackers were just children who broke into other people's systems for kicks. But today hacking is a massive criminal activity costing businesses a fortune, according to Team Cymru security evangelist Ian C Cook.

'Basically we are a bunch of computer geeks with backgrounds ranging from technology to law enforcement who can help companies protect themselves from criminals in the underground economy,' he noted.

'We have had a marvellous response here at Meftec 2009 and it has been very successful for us in making contacts with institutions in the region who are showing a lot of interest.

'We are a group of geeks who are passionate about network security and helping to eradicate problems within networks and making the Internet safe,' he said.

'We work closely with and within the Internet communities, as well as with all manner of other organisations.'

'After all, almost every organisation in the modern world is connected to the Internet in some way or other and they all need help to ensure that their parts of the network remain safe and secure,' he said.

'Team Cymru has learned that malware is increasing and is everywhere. It's on websites, its on p2p and its on instant messaging platforms.'

'We only see one trend here: more malware. We believe that in any environment where there are a myriad of interrelated parts and threats, expanding collaboration to a larger number of stakeholders will raise the overall level of awareness.'

'For us to keep pace with the miscreants and thwart their malevolence wherever and whenever possible, the good folks in the Internet community must work together,' Cook observed.

'Expanding our partnership is essential to enable this collective approach,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service