In a concerted effort to minimize Internet security risks, an industry forum comprised of the UK’s biggest Internet gambling organizations is attempting to persuade Internet service providers to establish firewalls for their customers.

The compromised security, which comes as a series of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, have the potential to ruin online gambling companies because they can so effectively slow the ISP’s network. Typically, hackers threaten e-commerce Web sites with an attack that will paralyze their sites if the companies don’t pay up.

Blue Square, an online betting site, is one company that experienced such an attack and their chief technology officer, Peter Pedersen, said they are trying to convince ISPs to distribute firewalls to their customers for protection. After a distributed denial-of-service attack on Blue Square, this has become a matter of keen interest for them. David Yu, chief technology officer of Betfair, expressed similar concerns in an interview last year by “ZDNet UK”. At least some ISPs have already started to address the problem.

The attacks, which send between one and two gigabytes of data per second, are capable of clogging a site’s bandwidth and bringing the site to a grinding halt. Pedersen is urging Internet gambling companies to show a united front against the hackers by sharing security resources.

The forum is also trying to alert MPs of the seriousness of the problem and the threat it poses to virtually all of British business since they are all at risk from cyber attacks.

In fact, on Tuesday, the UK Parliament is scheduled to discuss the topic for ten minutes and to decide whether to update the 1990 Computer Misuse Act. In those ten minutes, MP Derek Wyatt intends to introduce a proposal that would make the DDos attacks illegal. Simon Perry, European VP of security strategy for Computer Associates, while commending Wyatt for attempting to do something to raise public awareness and address the problem, is doubtful that devoting a mere ten minutes to the problem of cyber attacks is likely to accomplish anything. Moreover, the proposed changes to the law aren’t likely to pass anyhow with the next general election only weeks away.